law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, a ''per curiam'' decision or opinion (sometimes called an unsigned opinion) is one that is not authored by or attributed to a specific judge, but rather ascribed to the entire

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

or panel of judges who heard the case. The term is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for .

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 turn on question ...

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'', ''

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

'', and '' Trump v. Anderson''. Although they were ''per curiam'', each had multiple concurrences and dissents. Examples include: * ''

Ex parte Quirin '' Ex parte Quirin'', 317 U.S. 1 (1942), was a case of the United States Supreme Court that during World War II upheld the jurisdiction of a United States military tribunal over the trial of eight German saboteurs, in the United States. ''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 ''Toolson v. New York Yankees'', 346 U.S. 356 (1953), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld, 7–2, the antitrust exemption first granted to Major League Baseball (MLB) three decades earlier in '' Federal Baseball Club ...

'', * '' One, Inc. v. Olesen'', * '' Cooper v. Aaron,'' * '' Dusky v. United States'', * '' Brandenburg v. Ohio'', * '' Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education'', * '' New York Times Co. v. United States'', * ''

Furman v. Georgia ''Furman v. Georgia'', 408 U.S. 238 (1972), was a landmark criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and const ...

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

Buckley v. Valeo ''Buckley v. Valeo'', 424 U.S. 1 (1976), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on campaign finance in the United States, campaign finance. A majority of justices held that, as pro ...

'', * ''

'', * '' Los Angeles County v. Rettele'', * '' American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock'', * '' Trump v. Anderson'', * '' TikTok v. Garland'', The ''per curiam'' practices of the individual United States Courts of Appeals 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 covers the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, and it has appellate jurisdic ...

, 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 * Eas ...

, 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 ''Pro se'' legal representation ( or ) means to argue on one's own behalf in a legal proceeding, as a defendant or plaintiff in civil cases, or a defendant in criminal cases, rather than have representation from counsel or an attorney. The ...

'' and summary action calendar.

State

The

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

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 The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

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 Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York is the intermediate appellate court in New York State. The state is geographically divided into four judicial departments of the Appellate Division. The full title of each is, u ...

, 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; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

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 Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

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