Hatol

Hatol is a Tagalog noun meaning verdict or judgment, especially the formal decision issued by a court or tribunal. In legal contexts, a hatol denotes the ruling, sentence, or disposition resulting from a proceeding, including criminal verdicts and civil judgments. The term emphasizes the authoritative pronouncement that resolves a dispute and often carries legal force, such as a court’s hatol on a case or a magistrate’s sentence.

Beyond strictly legal use, hatol can be employed metaphorically to refer to fate or destiny, framed as a decisive verdict from life or circumstance. In everyday language, phrases like hatol ng kapalaran convey a sense of an inevitable outcome determined by circumstances.

Etymology of hatol is generally regarded as native to Filipino usage, with long-standing presence in speech and writing. While its exact origins are not uniformly documented, it has become a standard part of legal vocabulary in the Philippines and is frequently encountered in newspapers, translators’ work, and official documents.

Related linguistic forms include hatulan, a verb meaning to judge or to pass sentence, and other expressions that convey adjudication and finality. In discourse, hatol often appears alongside desisyon (decision) but typically implies a binding, formal ruling issued by an authority.

See also: jurisprudence, hukuman (court), desisyon.