A clear distinction is to be made between pronouncing judgment, that is, the giving of formal orders, and subsequently entering judgment. Entry of judgments or orders in the registry of the court achieves finality by bringing the litigation to an end.
Lord Esher MR said: ‘and the intention of the rule clearly is that, from the moment when the judge has pronounced judgment, and entry of the judgment has been made, the judgment is to take effect, not from the date of entry, but from the date of its being pronounced; it is an effective judgment from the day when it is pronounced by the judge in court.’ He went on to contrast common law judgments with those given in Chancery (‘without the verdict of a jury’), and then with those generally given after the Judicature Act, when, as he said, it was desired to make the relevant procedures identical, so that ‘power is given to the judge at nisi prius to do what he could not have done before, to direct judgment to be entered according to verdict, which is the same thing as giving him power to give or pronounce judgment’
Judges:
Lord Esher MR
Citations:
(1889) 24 QBD 103, (1889) 38 WR 68, (1889) 61 LT 297
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Litigation Practice
Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.591413