iudicata

Iudicata is a Latin feminine singular form of the perfect passive participle of the verb iudico, meaning judged or decided. In legal Latin, iudicata functions as an adjective that agrees with a feminine or plural noun, and it is most often encountered in phrases such as res iudicatae, “things adjudged,” to describe matters that have been resolved by a court.

In Roman and later civil law, the concept underlying iudicata is central to the doctrine of res judicata. This doctrine holds that once a judgment has become final, the claims or issues that were or could have been litigated in that action cannot be relitigated in future proceedings. The term iudicata helps express the idea that certain matters have been adjudicated and are thus closed to further dispute.

Historically, iudicata appears in classical Latin legal texts and has been carried into medieval and modern civil law discussions. The phrase res iudicatae is used to denote the collected set of matters that have been resolved and are binding, whereas “iudicata” by itself arises in grammatical contexts describing those adjudicated matters.

Etymology and usage: iudicata derives from iudico (to judge) with the perfect passive participle suffix, and is typically encountered in the plural or feminine singular form as part of established legal terminology. In everyday modern law, the English equivalent concept is res judicata, though the Latin term remains common in scholarly and comparative law discussions.