judgment, decision of a court of law respecting the issues before it. The term ordinarily is not applied to the decree (order) of courts of equity. The outstanding characteristic of a legal judgment, in contrast to an equitable decree, is its finality and fixity; thus, except for error justifying an appeal, the judgment may not be reconsidered (see jeopardy). The judgment, which in most cases of consequence follows the verdict of a jury, is the determination of the judge that the defendant is guilty or innocent of the alleged offense. If the judgment is one of criminal guilt, the court proceeds to impose sentence. In civil cases, when judgment is for the plaintiff, the court usually awards a sum as damages. The damages thereupon constitute a debt that takes priority over all other obligations of the defendant except taxes and previous judgments. If the debtor fails to pay, the sheriff, to execute the judgment, will seize and sell first his personal property and then his realty. The sheriff may also garnish monies owed to the defendant, e.g., his wages (see garnishment). Certain property of the debtor is exempt from seizure, including clothing, equipment needed to carry on his trade or profession, and the family homestead. In some jurisdictions a defendant who willfully refuses to pay a judgment may be punished for contempt of court. A judgment rendered by the courts of one state is entitled to recognition by the courts of all other states.

Last Judgment: see Judgment Day.

Judgment Day or Doomsday, central point of early Christian, Jewish, and Islamic eschatology, sometimes called the Day of the Lord. References to it throughout the Bible are numerous. The Christian belief in the Last Judgment asserts that this world will end, the dead will be raised up in the general resurrection, and God, or his agent, will gloriously come to judge the living and the dead. The sinners shall be cast into hell, and the righteous shall live in heaven. These concepts are also common themes in early Jewish apocalyptic speculation. No generally accepted Christian teaching pronounces when Judgment Day shall occur, but many individuals have prophesied its date. Doomsday believers are called chiliasts, millenarians, or, specifically, Adventists. See also Antichrist; Armageddon; millennium; apocalypse. The Last Judgment also figures in the Qur'an.

In law, a formal decision or determination on a matter or case by a court. Judgments are classified as in personam, in rem, and quasi in rem. A judgment in personam determines the rights and liabilities of a particular person. A judgment in rem affects the status of a particular thing (e.g., an item of property). The designation quasi in rem describes a judgment in which a person's property is subject to court control to satisfy a claim against the person. The court has at its disposal the power to punish for contempt any party that does not adhere to its orders. Seealso appeal; declaratory judgment; demurrer.

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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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