Urteil

Urteil is a German noun meaning judgment, verdict, or assessment. It can refer to a mental act of judging, a subjective opinion, or a formal decision issued by a court. The term is widely used across legal, philosophical, and everyday language.

In legal contexts, a Urteil is the court's final decision on the merits of a case. It resolves the dispute between the parties and is usually accompanied by a written Begründung (reasons). In civil and criminal proceedings, a Urteil differs from a Beschluss or other procedural orders and can be subject to appeal or revision.

Within the judiciary, there are variations such as Endurteil (final ruling) or Teilurteil (partial judgment). The specific rules for form, content, and appeal depend on the jurisdiction, but common elements include the parties, the facts, the applicable law, and the remedy granted or denied.

In philosophy, particularly in Kantian literature, Urteils denote the act of judgment—the mental operation that relates a concept to a given intuition and asserts a proposition. Kant distinguishes analytic from synthetic judgments and, in addition, a priori from a posteriori judgments, linking the term to epistemology and logic.

Colloquially, Urteils can refer to one's opinion or assessment about something: to "fassen ein Urteil" or "ein Urteil über jemanden oder etwas". The expression "mein Urteil" signals a personal evaluation rather than a formal decision.