In law, ''seriatim'' (
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 "in series") indicates that a
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 ...
is addressing multiple issues in a certain order, such as the order in which the issues were originally presented to the court.
Legal usage
A seriatim opinion is an opinion delivered by a court with 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 each judge reads his or her own opinion rather than a single judge writing an opinion on behalf of the entire court. Traditionally, judges read in order of reverse seniority, with the most junior judge speaking first. In the United States, this practice was discontinued in favour of majority opinions contra the British tradition of separate opinions.
In the United Kingdom
Most frequently used in modern times (when used at all) pleadings as a shorthand for "one by one in sequence". For example, in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
civil case
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...
s,
defence statements generally used to conclude with the phrase "save as expressly admitted herein, each allegation of the plaintiffs is denied as if set out in full and traversed herein ''seriatim''." This formulation is now superfluous under the English
Civil Procedure Rules
The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civil ...
, especially rule 16.5 (3)–(5).
Also sometimes seen in older deeds and contracts as a more traditional way of incorporating terms of reference. For example "the railway by-laws shall apply to the contract as if set out herein ''seriatim''."
It is sometimes found as part of the longer phrase ''brevatim et seriatim'', meaning "briefly and in series".
The term is also used when replying to a communication that contains a number of points, issues or questions to denote that the responses are in the same order in which they were raised in the original document: "To deal with your queries seriatim..."
In England, use of the word, and other Latin phrases, has become less frequent in legal discourse as a result of the
Woolf Reforms
The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civi ...
and, among other factors, efforts by groups such as the
Plain Language Movement
Plain language is writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly, easily, and completely as possible. Plain language strives to be easy to read, understand, and use. It avoids Verbosity, verbose, convoluted language and jargon. In m ...
to promote the use of "
plain English
Plain English (or layman's terms) are groups of words that are to be clear and easy to know. It usually avoids the use of rare words and uncommon euphemisms to explain the subject. Plain English wording is intended to be suitable for almost anyone, ...
" in legal discourse.
In the United States
During the
Supreme Court under Chief Justice Marshall, 1801 to 1805, the practice of judicial opinions being delivered in
seriatim was discontinued. It was restored by
Justice William Johnson, who, from 1805 through 1833, wrote nearly half of the Supreme Court's dissenting opinions.
[Oliver Schroeder, J. (1947). The Life and Judicial Work of Justice William Johnson, Jr. ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'', ''95''(3), 344. ][Morgan, D. (1944). Mr. Justice William Johnson and the Constitution. ''Harvard Law Review,'' ''57''(3), 328-361. ]
In 2009, Title III, Rule 15(a)(1) of the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding Amended and Supplemental Pleadings (part of pretrial procedure) was amended to allow three changes in the time previously allowed to make one change.
This provision will force the pleader to consider carefully and promptly the wisdom of amending to meet the arguments in the motion... and will expedite determination of issues that otherwise might be raised ''seriatim''.
The right to make changes now ends 21 days after service of a motion.
Actuarial usage
Actuarial calculations made in respect of a database (such as insurance policies or asset holdings) may be referred to as
seriatim. This implies calculation results are produced for each database record explicitly, i.e. without model compression (data grouping) and before summation.
References
{{reflist
Latin legal terminology