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DECREE (from the past participle, dec...

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 915 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DECREE (from the past participle, decretus, of
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Lat. decernere)
  , in earlier form Decreet, an authoritative decision having the force of law; the
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judgment of a court of justice . In
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Roman law, a decree (decretum) was the decision of the emperor, as the supreme judicial officer, settling a case which had been referred to him . In ecclesiastical law the
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term was given to a decision of an ecclesiastical council settling a doubtful point of
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doctrine or discipline (cf. also DECRETALS) . In
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English law decree was more particularly the judgment of a court of equity, but since the Judicature Acts the expression " judgment" (q.v.) is employed in reference to the decisions of all the divisions of the supreme court . A " decree nisi" is the conditional order for a dissolution of
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marriage made by the
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divorce court, and it is made " absolute " after six months (which period may, however, be shortened) in the absence of sufficient cause shown to the contrary . (See DIVORCE.) Decreet arbitral is a Scottish phrase for the award of an arbitrator .

End of Article: DECREE (from the past participle, decretus, of Lat. decernere)
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