Demittitur

Demittitur is a Latin legal term meaning “let it be dismissed” or “let him send away,” used in civil procedure to describe a court-ordered dismissal of a claim, a part of a claim, or the entire case. The term stems from demittere, to send away or dismiss, and has appeared in Roman law and later in English and American jurisprudence.

Historically, demittitur functioned as a post-verdict or pre-verdict mechanism by which a judge could dispose of issues that failed to meet legal standards or evidentiary thresholds. It can operate as a form of dismissal on the grounds that the evidence, even when viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, does not establish liability as a matter of law. In practice, a court that grants a demittitur may enter judgment for the defendant on the dismissed counts, or dismiss the action entirely, sometimes with or without prejudice depending on the jurisdiction and the specific order.

In modern practice, the term is less common in many jurisdictions, which more often use directed verdicts, judgments as a matter of law, remittitur (reducing damages), or additur (increasing damages) to address insufficiencies in liability or damages. When used today, demittitur typically denotes a court-ordered dismissal or reduction that accompanies a verdict or is entered to resolve legal insufficiency rather than to reassess damages alone. The precise effect—whether with prejudice or without prejudice—varies by jurisdiction and the terms of the court’s order.

Etymology and usage aside, demittitur remains a historical and occasionally encountered concept in civil procedure, illustrating how courts sometimes resolve disputes by dismissing claims deemed legally unsustainable.