How Judgment, Decree and Order are Different?

There are certain differences between Judgement, Decree and Order. The decisions given by
the court of law are either orders or decrees. A decree is followed by a judgement that is
pronounced by the court after hearing the case. It is important to note that decree and order are
analogous to each other. A judgment is passed by the court of law on the ground of decree or
order.

Order:
Section 2(14) of the Code defines “order” as the formal expression of any decision of a Civil
Court which is not a decree.

Essential Elements of an Order:

● Formal Expression

● Formal Expression should not be a decree

● The decision must be pronounced by a civil court.

Types of Order

Appealable Orders: Orders against which an appeal lies. Orders mentioned under Section 104
and Order 43 Rule 1 of the CPC are examples of appealable orders.

Non-Appealable Orders: Orders against which a party cannot file an appeal.

Orders can also be classified into:

Final Order - The Order which finally determined the rights of the parties.

Interlocutory Order - Provisional orders passed by the Court in the course of the
litigation.

Decree
Under Section 2(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, “decree” means the formal
expression of an adjudication which conclusively determines the rights of the parties with
regard to all or any of the matters in controversy in the suit and may be either preliminary
or final. A decree must include:

- Rejection of a plaint

- Determination of any question under Section 144 of the Code.

 A decree shall not include:

- Any adjudication from which an appeal lies as an appeal from an order

- Any order of dismissal for default.

Essential Elements of a Decree

-There must be a formal expression: To be a decree, there must be a formal expression of

adjudication. In other words, the court must formally express its decision in the manner laid
down by law.

-There should be an adjudication: It is the most essential feature of a decree. A former

decision of the Judge on the dispute should be there. In the absence of such judicial
determination, there can be no decree.

-Determining the rights of the parties:The adjudication should determine the rights of the
parties in a dispute. The term parties refer to the plaintiff (person instituting the suit) and the
defendant (person against whom the suit has been filed).

-Determination must be conclusive in nature: The determination held by the Court should be
conclusive relating to the rights of the parties. The provisional decisions are not considered
decree.

Types of Decree
There are three types of decree as recognised by the Civil Procedure. They are:

Preliminary Decree - It is passed in cased in which the court has to first adjudicate upon the
right of the parties and further proceedings need to take place before the suit is in a position to
be completely disposed of.

Final Decree - A final decree is where a suit is completely disposed and all the questions in
controversy between the parties are finally settled and there is nothing remaining to be decided
on. A decree may be final in two ways:

Where no appeal is filed against the decree within the prescribed time

Where the matter has been decided by the decree of the highest court.

Where the decree completely disposed of the suit.

Partially preliminary and partially final decree - A decree can be said to be partially
preliminary or partially final when it only determines the rights of the parties, while the rest is left
to be worked out in the further proceedings.

Judgement

Under Section 2(9) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 a “judgement” means the statement
given by the Judge on the grounds of a decree or order. Judgement refers to the reasoning
given by the court in order to support the decision. A judgement is said to be the final decision of
the court on the said matter in the form of suit towards parties. Order 20, Rule 4(2) states that a
judgement shall contain a concise statement of a case, point for determination, the decision
thereon and all the reasons for such decisions. Order 20, Rule 3 of CPC says that the
judgement must be signed and dated by the judge while declaring it in the court. Once it is
signed by the judge, the judgement is not allowed to be amended except in cases where there
are arithmetical errors due to accidental omission. The provision for the same is stated in
Section 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Pronouncement of Judgement:

The Court, after hearing the case shall deliver the judgment in the open court, soon after the
completion of the hearing or on another day fixed by the court for that purpose, of which due
notice will be given to the parties and their pleaders. In cases, where the judgement is not
delivered on the same day, every attempt shall be made by the Court to pronounce the
judgement within 30 days from the date on which the hearing was concluded. There is an
exception to this rule where, under extraordinary circumstances, the judgment might be
extended to 60 days.

Essentials of a Judgement
A judgement should possess all the essentials of the case, reasoning and the basic contention
on which the judgment is delivered.

1.Essentials of the judgment other than that of the Small Causes Court

● A concise statement of the case

● Point for determination

● Decision thereon

● Reason for such decision

● Relief Granted
2.Judgment of Small Causes Court

● Point for determination

● Decision thereon

Conclusion

In the conclusion I can say that decision given by the judge is called judgment which contains
the grounds of the decree and order. Decree and order are analogous to each other. They are
defined under section 2(2, 9, and 14). The importance of decree lies in fact that they are
appealable and conclusively determine the rights of the parties. There is difference between
order, decree and Judgment.