DECISION. A judgment given by a com petent tribunal. The French lawyers call the opinions which they give on questions propounded to them, decisions. See Inst. 1. 2. 8; Dig. 1. 2. 2; Hanna v. Com'rs of Put nam County, 29 Ind. 170; Estey v. Sheckler, 36 Wis. 434 ; also JUDGMENT.
This word is variously defined. It is said that the decision of a court is its judgment ; Adams v. R. Co., 77 Miss. 194, 24 South. 200, 317, 28 South. 956, 60 L. R. A. its opin ion is the reason given therefor or the views of the judge in relation to a certain subject ; In re Estate of Winslow, 12 Misc. 254, 34 N. Y. Supp. 637. The two words are sometimes used interchangeably ; Pierce v. State, 109 Ind. 535, 10 N. E. 302 ; Estey v. Sheckler, 36 Wis. 434 ; Board of Education of City of Emporia v. State, 7 Kan. App. 620, 52 Pac. 466. The judgment is recorded 'upon its ren dition, and can be changed only through an application to the court. The decision is the property of the judges, subject to modifica tion until transcribed in the records ; Hous ton v. Williams, 13 Cal. 27, 73 Am. Dec. 565 ; Coffey v. Gamble, 117 Ia. 545, 91 N. W. 813. The term decision is held to be a popular and not a technical word and to mean little more than a concluded opinion. It does not by itself amount to judgment or order as used in section 29 of the Local Government Act of 1888. It is an exercise of a consulta tive jurisdiction and is not appealable ; [1891] 1 Q. B. 725.
The word decision includes: Dismissal of an action for insufficiency of evidence; Vol mer v. Stagerman, 25 Minn. 234; dismissal of appeal; Estey v. Sheckler, 36 Wis. 434 ; the findings of the court upon which a de cree or judgment may be entered ; Matter of Winslow, 12 Misc. 254, 34 N. Y. Supp. 637 ; an order of a probate court classifying a de mand against the estate; Wolfley v. McPher son, 61 Kan. 492, 59 Pac. 1054 ; a subsequent order vacating it and relegating the demand to a different class; id.
It is, among other things, an order deter mining the judgment to be entered ; Garr, Scott & Co. v. Spaulding, 2 N. D, 414, 51 N. W. 867. It has a broader significance than judgment; Wolfley v. McPherson, 61 Kan.
492, 59 Pac. 1504. A "decision upon the merits" is one upon the justice of the case and not upon technical grounds merely ; Mulhern v. R. Co., 2 Wyo. 465. "Surely a non-suit is not a decision ;" id. A ruling upon the admission of evidence is not includ ed in the words "decision or intermediate order" ; State v. O'Brien, 18 Mont. 1, 43 Pac. 1091, 44 Pac. 399; the word is sometimes treated as synonymous with judgment ; Es tey v. Sheckler, 36 Wis. 434; Board of Edu cation of City of Emporia v. State, 7 Kan. App. 620, 52 Pac. 466 ; Pierce v. State, 109 Ind. 535, 10 N. E. 302 ; it has been said that "in an abstract sense there is a shade of difference between the import of the word `decision' and the word 'judgment' " ; the former "is the resolution of the principles which determine the controversy ; the judg ment is the formal paper applying them to the rights of the parties"; Buckeye Pipe Line Co. v. Fee, 62 Ohio St. 543, 555, 57 N. E. 446, 78 Am. St. Rep. 743. As used in a statute characterizing the findings of fact and conclusions of law as a "written deci sion" it means something which must pre cede the judgment and upon which it is en tered as upon a verdict ; Corbett v. Job, 5 Nev. 201.
The decisions of courts are not the law, but only evidences of the law, stronger or weaker according to the number and uni formity of adjudications, the unanimity or dissension of the judges, the solidity of the reasons, and the perspicuity and precision with which the reasons are expressed; Yates v. Lansing, 9 Johns. (N. Y.) 395, 6 Am. Dec. 290; United States Savings & Loan Co. v. Harris, 113 Fed. 27; Swift v. Tyson, 16 Pet. (U. S.) 1, 10 L. Ed. 865; Phipps v. Harding, 70 Fed. 468, 17 C. C. A. 203, 30 L. R. A. 513; Falconer v. Simmons, 51 W. Va, 172, 41 S. E. 193.
But on the other hand the term "law" is said to include the decisions of the courts; Miller v. Dunn, 72 Cal. 462, 14 Pac. 27, 1 Am. St. Rep. 67. Possibly, if not probably, the difference is one of expression rather than of substance.