Judgment and Consent Judgment:
Judgment
Judgment can be likened to the final decision of the court in a matter. It is also the personal opinion or evaluation of a judex or judge reached in a case by discerning and comparing the evidence presented before him.
Judgment is the personal opinion of a Judge reached from the careful evaluation of evidence presented before the court by the parties involved in the matter.
Judgment can be traced to be available in both criminal and civil cases. The judgment of the court usually sprung up when the parties are done with their case. Here, the plaintiff is done presenting his claim and tendering his evidence and the defendant is also done with his own defence. The court will then demand that the parties should file their final written address.
Final written address is the summation of the case of the parties filed by their different counsels. In accordance with the rules of the court, either of the parties may file their final written address first, depending on the circumstance surrounding the court proceeding.
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The court will then later form its conclusion and decision from the evidences tendered before him in the court. Judgment is therefore the final decision of the court after a meticulous evaluation of the evidence of the parties in the matter.
Judgment is different from ruling.
Judgment is the final decision of the court over a particular matter which discharges the court from having power over that matter (Functus Officio) while ruling is the decision of the court over a particular issue in a matter. It may be over a preliminary objection raised in the case. To further adumbrate on this, there may be more than one ruling in a matter before a particular court but there is usually only one judgment in a matter from a particular Judge.
Consent Judgment
Consent Judgment is the judgment obtained based on the agreement of the parties in the case. Here the parties have agreed on the terms of settlement, they will just file the terms to the court, for it to be entered as a judgment for them. For consent judgment to be valid and binding it must emanate from the terms of the agreement entered by the parties. Any little variation in the terms may invalidate the terms and also affect the judgment.
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In practice, parties may even agree on some of the claims and then the rest may be decided through a full trial in the court, after which a judgment will be entered for it.
Default Judgment
Default judgment is a judgment of the court obtained as a result of the default of the other party in the matter. Default judgment may be obtained against the plaintiff or the defendant. However, it must be against an erring party in the matter. Default judgment may either be in default of appearance or in default of pleading.
Judgment in default of appearance is that judgment obtained as a result of the non – appearance of either of the parties in the matter who was fully served with the court processes and the hearing notice.
Judgment in default of pleading is the judgment obtained as a result of the refusal of either of the parties in the matter filing their pleadings within a particular period as provided by the rules of the court, even when they were fully served by the other with the full court processes through personal service.
Note: Default judgment may be struck out if the party to whom the default judgment was entered filed a motion on notice giving the court a cogent reason why the judgment should be struck out and the matter should be fully tried.