Editing Declaratory judgment (section)

{{Short description|Legal determination of the rights, duties, or obligations of parties to a civil dispute}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2019}}
{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=November 2013}}
{{Judicial remedies}}
A '''declaratory judgment''', also called a declaration, is the [[Legal judgment|legal determination]] of a [[court]] that resolves legal uncertainty for the [[litigant]]s. It is a form of legally binding preventive by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal matter can ask a court to conclusively rule on and affirm the rights, duties, or obligations of one or more parties in a [[civil case|civil]] [[:wikt:dispute|dispute]] (subject to any [[legal appeal|appeal]]).<ref>28 U.S.C.S. § 2201 (“Any such declaration shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree and shall be reviewable as such.”)</ref> The declaratory judgment is generally considered a [[statutory]] remedy and not an [[equitable remedy]] in the [[United States]],<ref>''Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. v. Mayacamas Corp.'', 485 U.S. 271, 284 (1988) (“Actions for declaratory judgments  are neither legal nor equitable . . . .”).</ref> and is thus not subject to equitable requirements, though there are analogies that can be found in the remedies granted by [[equity (law)|courts of equity]].<ref name="Samuels v Mackell">''Samuels v. Mackell'', 401 U.S. 66, 70 (1971) (“Although the declaratory judgment sought by the plaintiffs was a statutory remedy rather than a traditional form of equitable relief, the Court made clear that a suit for declaratory judgment was nevertheless ‘essentially an equitable cause of action,’ and was ‘analogous to the equity jurisdiction in suits quia timet or for a decree quieting title.’”) (citations omitted)</ref><ref name="Green v Mansour">''Green v. Mansour'', 474 U.S. 64, 72 (1985) (“The propriety of issuing a declaratory judgment may depend upon equitable considerations”).</ref> A declaratory judgment does not by itself order any action by a party, or imply [[damages]] or an [[injunction]], although it may be accompanied by one or more other remedies.

A declaratory judgment is generally distinguished from an [[advisory opinion]] because the latter does not resolve an actual [[case or controversy]]. Declaratory judgments can provide [[legal certainty]] to each party in a matter when this could resolve or assist in a disagreement. Often an early resolution of [[legal rights]] will resolve some or all of the other issues in a matter.

A declaratory judgment is typically requested when a party is threatened with a [[lawsuit]] but the lawsuit has not yet been filed; or when a party or parties believe that their rights under law and/or [[contract]] might conflict; or as part of a [[counterclaim]] to prevent further lawsuits from the same plaintiff (for example, when only a contract claim is filed, but a copyright claim might also be applicable).  In some instances, a declaratory judgment is filed because the statute of limitations against a potential defendant may pass before the plaintiff incurs damage (for example, a malpractice statute applicable to a [[certified public accountant]] may be shorter than the time period the IRS has to assess a taxpayer for additional tax due to bad advice given by the CPA).

Declaratory judgments are authorized by statute in most common-law jurisdictions. In the [[United States]], the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] and most states enacted statutes in the 1920s and 1930s authorizing their courts to issue declaratory judgments.<ref>See Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C.S. § 2201</ref>