How judges and journalists decide the case of Judgment v Judgement

Judges and journalists are kindred spirits. You can see this clearly in the August 20 judgments — or judgements — of the seven Court of Appeal judges who scuttled the BBI Bill. 

Sample this extract from Justice Patrick Kiage’s judgment: “The Hon Attorney General is, with respect, not right in submitting that the basic structure doctrine has been ‘rejected by a vast majority of courts around the world’. I have carefully and painstakingly read through the numerous cases, books and articles cited by the parties before us, and I find no factual basis for so bold and rather fallacious an assertion.”

If Justice Kiage was not a judge, he’d probably be a top-notch editor who questions everything, including reports from his reporters. But I’m not writing this piece to match judges with journalism positions or how they would fare in journalism. Just to note in passing that their role is similar to that of journalists.

With varying competencies, judges and journalists inform the public on societal problems and disputes and, particularly in the case of judges, they pass judgment or judgement. That takes hard-nosed research and ferreting out the truth — and courage.

Coupled with that is ability to write. Judges and journalists rely heavily on written communication. To be successful, judges, in particular, must be able to communicate their judgments effectively. But should they write “judgments” or “judgements”? And should journalists report “judgments” or “judgements”? 

Jarring and confusing

This is not a trivial matter of spelling or misspelling. It goes to the heart of diligence and careful writing. When judges and journalists use the two different spellings interchangeably, they exhibit carelessness or indifference to standards and style. Besides, using “judgment” and “judgement” interchangeably is jarring and confusing. Readers do not expect the same word to be spelt differently in the same publication, document, or news story. Readers expect consistency and uniformity.

Judges and journalists have style manuals to guide them in their writing. The Nation Stylebook requires its journalists to use “judgment”, not “judgement”. Still, some journalists use both “judgment” and “judgement” interchangeably.

When I was writing this, I googled “judgment” and “judgement” in archived Nation stories. I received 3,956 returns for stories in which “judgment” was used. For “judgement”, I received 1,881 returns. In both cases the two different spellings were used interchangeably in some stories.

I also searched the Kenya Law database. For “judgment”, I received 144,000 returns. For “judgement”, I received 39,200 returns. This shows that by far the majority of judges choose to use the term “judgment” but many still use “judgement” either because of ignorance of standards or laxity.

Many use “judgement” and “judgment” in the same document. This seems to be more as a result of lack of due diligence than a belief that the words can be used interchangeably. 

Standard spelling

In the High Court judgment on the BBI Bill that was delivered on May 13, 2021, “judgment” is used 33 times and “judgement” four times. In the Court of Appeal decision of August 20, “judgment” is used 384 times while “judgement” appears only 14 times. This shows judges prefer “judgment”, but some of them still use “judgement”.

In Britain, courts and Parliament use “judgment” on their official websites. However, BBC states in its News Style Guide that “judgement is our favoured spelling — and not “judgment”. 

Even then BBC uses both “judgment” and “judgement” on different websites, sometimes using both spellings in the same story, exhibiting sloppiness. 

But the trend shows that while “judgment” and “judgement” are alternate spellings of the same word only “judgment” is acceptable as the standard in legal texts or when used in a legal sense. “Judgement” is thus considered a misspelling.

The NMG Stylebook has got it right. “Judgment” is considered the right spelling in most parts of the English-speaking world. It’s the dominant spelling when referring to court decisions. It’s the standard spelling in legal contexts and court reporting. To use “judgment” interchangeably with “judgement” is to weaken one’s writing. 

The Public Editor is an independent news ombudsman who handles readers’ complaints on editorial matters including accuracy and journalistic standards. Email: [email protected]. Call or text 0721989264.