declaratory judgment

declaratory judgment
a judgment that merely decides the rights of parties in a given transaction, situation, or dispute but does not order any action or award damages.

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In law, a judgment merely declaring a right or establishing the legal status or interpretation of a law or instrument.

It is binding but is distinguished from other judgments or court opinions in that it includes no executive element (an order that something be done); instead it simply declares or defines rights to be observed or wrongs to be eschewed by litigants, or expresses the court's view on a contested question of law.

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▪ law
      in law, a judicial judgment intended to fix or elucidate litigants' rights that were previously uncertain or doubtful. A declaratory judgment is binding but is distinguished from other judgments or court opinions in that it lacks an executory process. It simply declares or defines rights to be observed or wrongs to be eschewed by a plaintiff, a defendant, or both, or expresses the court's determination of a contested question of law, without ordering that anything be done. Although a declaratory judgment must deal with a real as opposed to a hypothetical dispute, it is not necessary for an actual wrong, giving rise either to criminal liability or to a claim for civil damages, to have been done or even threatened or contemplated. The Declaratory Judgment Act established its use in U.S. law in 1934.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Declaratory Judgment Act — A federal statute, enacted in 1934, providing that in cases of actual controversy the courts of the United States shall have power, upon petition, declaration, complaint, or other appropriate pleadings, to declare rights and other legal relations …   Ballentine's law dictionary

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