Verdictie

Verdictie is a Dutch noun that denotes the act or result of delivering a verdict by a court or jury. In everyday Dutch usage, it is uncommon; most legal outcomes are described with vonnis (judgment) or uitspraak (ruling). Verdictie appears mostly in historical, scholarly, or regional texts, where it is discussed as a traditional or alternative term for a court’s decision.

The word originates from Latin veredictum, via forms in Old French and Dutch nominalization with the suffix -ie. Its sense centers on the authoritative statement produced by a judicial body, sometimes emphasizing the moment of delivery as a procedural event and other times the content of the decision itself.

In contemporary practice, verdictie is considered rare and is often treated as archaic or dialectal. Dutch dictionaries and modern legal usage tend to favor verduield terms such as vonnis or uitspraak. When verdictie does occur, it is typically within historical pen-portraits of legal procedure, comparative law discussions, or translations of older texts from other legal traditions. Some writers use it to stress the verdict’s declarative character or to contrast the decision with accompanying legal orders, such as sentences or remedies.

Relation to related terms: vonnis refers to the formal judgment rendered by a court, while uitspraak is a broader term for any ruling or pronouncement. Verdictie sits at a marginal crossroad, signaling the act or content of a verdict but rarely replacing the standard terminology in modern Dutch.

See also: vonnis; uitspraak; arresten; rechtspraak.