Glossary of Common Legal Terms (J)

Judgment

The final order of a court in a case which, while giving reasons, conclusively decides the rights of parties in the case, resolves the dispute and grants reliefs. See bench, order.

Judgment-debtor

Any person against whom a decree has been passed or an order capable of execution has been made;

Judicial Review

A term that describes the function of the judiciary being able to examine and correct the actions of all the organs of State—the executive, the legislature and the judiciary itself. Judicial review is part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution.

Junior Advocate

Any advocate who wants to practise law, enrols with a Bar Council and generally begins work in the office of a practising advocate.

Jurisdiction

This indicates the scope and extent of a court’s powers. For instance, a court only has territorial jurisdiction within the territory over which its powers extend. Jurisdiction is also used to describe the nature of the proceedings in the Court, for example: civil original jurisdiction, criminal appellate jurisdiction. A court’s decision can always be challenged on the ground that while deciding a case it has exceeded its jurisdiction, i.e. powers, or that it has exercised a jurisdiction it does not possess.

Justiciable

A matter is justiciable if it lends itself to adjudication by a court. This is determined by criteria laid down in law. For example, the correctness of the foreign policy of a state may not be examined by a court because it is not justiciable.