judicial

adjective

ju·​di·​cial jü-ˈdi-shəl 

1

a

: of or relating to a judgment, the function of judging, the administration of justice, or the judiciary

judicial processes

judicial powers

b

: belonging to the branch of government that is charged with trying all cases that involve the government and with the administration of justice within its jurisdiction compare executive, legislative

2

: ordered or enforced by a court

a judicial sale

3

: belonging or appropriate to a judge or the judiciary

judicial robes

judicial dignity

4

: of, characterized by, or expressing judgment : critical sense 2d

5

: arising from a judgment of God

judicially

jü-ˈdi-sh(ə-)lē 

adverb

Examples of judicial in a Sentence

the judicial branch of government

Recent Examples on the Web

During his remarks Tuesday, MPA chief Charlie Rivkin announced a new initiative to work with members of the U.S. Congress to enact judicial site-blocking legislation in the United States (Rivkin has made fighting piracy the hallmark of his tenure). —Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2024

But for more than a decade, the former president has been enmeshed in a witness-tampering scandal in the country’s judicial system. —Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024

Breyer sums up textualism and originalism as attempts to make judicial reasoning a science and to make law a list of rules. —Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024

Legal experts have warned that government attempts to police the truthfulness of news reports overstep judicial processes and endanger freedom of expression, a constitutional right that has existed since 1948 and weathered decades of military dictatorships. —Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024

The case presents novel legal questions for the judicial system, as Trump is the first current or former president ever to be criminally indicted. —Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2024

People who are accepted enter a guilty plea and then begin a period of treatment and judicial supervision. —William K. Rashbaum, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2024

But while their numbers are growing, the protests have yet to come close to matching the scale of the protests opposing his judicial reform plans before the war. —Jeremy Diamond, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024

His lawyers are saying that even using this law against him would require judicial gloss to charge him. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin judicialis, from judicium judgment, from judex — see judge entry 2

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing judicial

• judicial review
• quasi-judicial

Kids Definition

judicial

adjective

ju·​di·​cial ju̇-ˈdish-əl 

1

: of or relating to courts or judges

2

: ordered or enforced by a court

a judicial decision

judicially

-(ə-)lē 

adverb

Legal Definition

judicial

adjective

ju·​di·​cial jü-ˈdi-shəl 

1

a

: of or relating to a judgment, the function of judging, the administration of justice, or the judiciary

b

: of, relating to, or being the branch of government that is charged with trying all cases that involve the government and with the administration of justice within its jurisdiction compare administrative sense 2, executive sense 1, legislative

2

: created, ordered, or enforced by a court

a judicial foreclosure

compare conventional sense 1, legal sense 2c

judicially adverb

Etymology

Latin judicialis, from judicium judgment, from judic-, judex judge, from jus right, law + dicere to determine, say