law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, a ''per curiam'' decision (or opinion) is a ruling issued by an

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

of multiple

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s in which the decision rendered is made by the

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

(or at least, a majority of the court) acting collectively (and typically, though not necessarily, unanimously). In contrast to regular opinions, a ''per curiam'' does not list the individual judge responsible for authoring the decision, but minority

concurring In law, a concurring opinion is in certain legal systems a written opinion by one or more judges of a court which agrees with the decision made by the majority of the court, but states different (or additional) reasons as the basis for their deci ...

and

dissenting Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

opinions are signed. It is not the only type of decision that can reflect the opinion of the court. Other types of decisions can also reflect the opinion of the entire court, such as unanimous decisions in which the opinion of the court is expressed, with an author listed. The term ''per curiam'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "by the court".

United States

Federal

The decisions of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

are generally not ''per curiam'', with exceptions. Their decisions more commonly take the form of one or more opinions signed by individual justices which are then joined in by other justices. Unanimous and signed opinions are not considered ''per curiam'' decisions, as only the court can officially designate opinions as ''per curiam''. ''Per curiam'' decisions tend to be short. In modern practice, they are most commonly used in summary decisions that the Court resolves without full argument and briefing. The designation is stated at the beginning of the opinion. Single-line ''per curiam'' decisions are also issued without concurrence or dissent by a hung Supreme Court (a 4–4 decision), when the Court has a vacant seat. The notable exceptions to the usual characteristics for a ''per curiam'' decision are the cases of ''

New York Times Co. v. United States ''New York Times Co. v. United States'', 403 U.S. 713 (1971), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the First Amendment right of Freedom of the Press. The ruling made it possible for ''The New York Times'' and ''The ...

'', ''

Bush v. Gore ''Bush v. Gore'', 531 U.S. 98 (2000), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. On December 8, th ...

'' and '' Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo''. Although they were ''per curiam'', each had multiple concurrences and dissents. Examples include: * '' Ex parte Quirin'', * ''

Ray v. Blair ''Ray v. Blair'', 343 U.S. 214 (1952), is a major decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. It was a case on state political parties requiring of presidential electors to pledge to vote for the party's nominees before being certified a ...

'', * '' Toolson v. New York Yankees'', * '' One, Inc. v. Olesen'', * '' Dusky v. United States'', * ''

Brandenburg v. Ohio ''Brandenburg v. Ohio'', 395 U.S. 444 (1969), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court interpreting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Court held that the government cannot punish inflammatory speech unless that s ...

'', * ''

Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education ''Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education'', 396 U.S. 19 (1969), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ordered immediate desegregation of public schools in the American South. It followed 15 years of delays to integrate ...

'', * ''

Furman v. Georgia ''Furman v. Georgia'', 408 U.S. 238 (1972), was a landmark criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court invalidated all then existing legal constructions for the death penalty in the United States. It was 5–4 decision, with each memb ...

'', * ''

Buckley v. Valeo ''Buckley v. Valeo'', 424 U.S. 1 (1976), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on campaign finance. A majority of justices held that, as provided by section 608 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, limits on election expenditu ...

'', * '' City of New Orleans v. Dukes'', * ''

'', * ''

American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock ''American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock'', 2011 MT 328, is a decision by the Montana Supreme Court ruling that the broad free speech protections given to corporations in '' Citizens United v. FEC'' do not apply to Montana's campaign finan ...

'', * '' Los Angeles County v. Rettele'', The ''per curiam'' practices of the individual

United States Courts of Appeals The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals f ...

vary by judicial circuit. The

Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate jur ...

, for instance, issues its nonprecedential decisions as "summary orders" that do not designate an author but are also not labeled as ''per curiam'' opinions; occasionally, the court will issue precedential decisions with a ''per curiam'' designation. In the

Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Easte ...

, by contrast, the majority of both precedential and nonprecedential decisions indicate the authoring judge, and the ''per curiam'' designation is generally, but not exclusively, reserved for dispositions on the court's ''pro se'' and summary action calendar.

State

The Supreme Court of California occasionally releases decisions in the name of "The Court" but they are not necessarily unanimous. Sometimes, they are accompanied by extensive concurring and dissenting opinions. The Supreme Court of Florida frequently releases death penalty opinions in a ''per curiam'' form, even if there are concurring and dissenting opinions to the majority. Many decisions of the

New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division The Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court of the State of New York are the intermediate appellate courts in New York State. There are four Appellate Divisions, one in each of the state's four Judicial Departments (e.g., the full title of the ...

, especially in the First and Second Judicial Departments, do not designate an author. Across the Departments, the ''per curiam'' designation is used in attorney disciplinary decisions.

Canada

The

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

uses the term "The Court" instead of ''per curiam''. The practice began around 1979 by Chief Justice Laskin, borrowing from the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

practice of anonymizing certain unanimous decisions. However, unlike US courts, which use ''per curiam'' primarily for uncontroversial cases, the Supreme Court tends to attribute decisions to "The Court" in important and controversial cases, to emphasize that the Court is speaking with one voice.Bzdera, Andre. "Comparative Analysis of Federal High Courts: A Political Theory of Judicial Review" (1993) 26 Canadian Journal of Political Science 3 at 25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Per Curiam Decision Judiciaries Latin legal terminology Judgment (law) Works published anonymously