(1)The object of a judgement is to set out in as lucid a form as possible the nature of the dispute and the circumstances necessary to understand it, the case put forward by each side with their allegations in support of it, the points on which they are at issue, the marshalling and discussion of the evidence or law on each point, and a clear and unambiguous decision point by point till the dispute is decided in all aspects raised. A person reading the judgement should thus know what the case is about, what the parties said about it, the points on which they were in conflict, and what the Judge decide on every question raised.(2)The form of a judgement must be such as to carry out this object. The form may vary, but ordinarily follow the rules given below.(3)A judgement or order should be divided into consecutively numbered paragraphs of a reasonable length not exceeding three quarters of a page as a rule, so that reference made in argument before a higher Court can easily be found. The opening paragraph should state briefly what the nature of the action is, so that it can be gathered from the start what the judgement is about and what points are to be looked for. The next paragraph or two should give tire admitted facts, that is, facts which neither side disputes, insofar as they are necessary to understand the case.(4)Next should follow the case for the plaintiff, and after this the case for the defendant. Where there are several defendants putting forward different cases it may be necessary to put the plaintiffs case against each defendant separately along with that of defendant's answer to it. There is no hard and fast rule except that allegations and counter allegations must be strictly differentiated from admitted facts and kept apart from them, and must be expressed in such a way that a person reading the judgement can see what plaintiff said and what the defendant replied. The case for each side should be comprehensively summarized, not merely copied down in abbreviated form. It is not uncommon to see the incorrect form. "The plaintiff alleged that..... .That...........; etc." This is copying the plaint, in abbreviated form instead of taking the trouble to state the case.Note. - All that Rule 4 (2) of Order XX requires is that in a judgement the case should be stated in few words so as to bring out its nature. It is not necessary to reproduce the pleadings which are available in the record for reference by any higher tribunal.(5)Next come the issue. If the allegations are set out properly the issues will be obvious before they are explicitly stated. The subject of an issue is to lie down the evidence and arguments and decision to a particular question so that there may be not doubt what the dispute is and how it has been decided.(6)An issue may involve several points. For instance, if the question is whether debts were incurred for immoral purpose it may be necessary to decide the particular immoral purpose and immoral application of each loan, the date and the circumstances under which it was borrowed, and so on. As far as possible each point that arises for decision should be taken consecutively, the evidence for and against marshalled, where necessary, the law considered and the arguments on each side, and then the decision on the point given. Each point should have a paragraph or more itself. When all the points supposing there are more than one relating to a particular issue have been considered and decided, a finding on the issue as a whole should be given.(7)It is essential to give a definite finding on every point and every issue so that a higher Court may know what the decision was and not find itself faced with ambiguities.(8)After all the issues have been dealt with comes the decision of the case. Where it is necessary to give particular directions as to debts, costs, action to be taken, etc., they should be clearly given so that the decree may be properly drawn up and there may be not argument as to what the Court really ordered to be done.(9)A point that is obvious and undisputed should not be laboured.(10)Genealogical trees should be set out as clearly as possible and where in introducing a case it is necessary to name a number of people of to state their relationship particular care should be taken in making the relationship clear and showing what the persons named have to do with the case. It is not a rare thing to find judgements beginning with such a sentence as this : X and Y own adjoining fields, without saying who X and are, or how it matters whether they own any fields or not This kind of beginning, expressed here in its simplest form, leads to severe difficulties where it assumes as it often does a more complicated form.(11)The marshalling of evidence is not the repetition of what a witness said but the critical grouping together of the relevant statements of particular witnesses for and against a particular fact. The proper way to marshal evidence is something like this; that A, B and C agree m such and such a version but are contradicted on such and such points by D and E, that a contrary version (being such and such) given by X and Y unsupported such and such details by Z, is against the probabilities or against such and such established facts; therefore the version of A, B and C, with such and such modifications, appears to be correct.(12)The judgement should not be begun until the Judge has it clear in his own mind what points he is to decide, how he is going to decide them and why. He should try to deal with them as lucidly and concisely as possible. A prolix judgement is not a sign of carefulness but of inability to come to the point. It is a Judge's duty not to write a page where a few lines would have sufficed.(13)A judgement is unlikely to be lucid throughout unless the Judge carefully reads it over afterwards and corrects it where necessary before signing it.
