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A dissenting opinion in a legal case is an opinion
Opinion

An opinion is a belief that may or may not be backed up with evidence, but which cannot be proved with that evidence. An opinion is normally a subjective statement and may be the result of an emotion or an interpretation of facts; people may draw opposing opinions from the same facts....
 of one or more judge
Judge

A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law,which is operated by the local, state, and/or federal government....
s expressing disagreement with the majority opinion
Majority opinion

In law, a majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by a majority of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the Case law of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision....
 of the court which gives rise to its judgment.

A dissenting opinion does not create binding precedent
Stare decisis

Stare decisis is the legal principle under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions.In the United States, which uses a common law system in its federal courts and most of its state courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has stated:...
 or become part of case law
Case law

Case law is the general term for the principles and rules of law set forth in judge legal opinion from courts of law. Case law incorporates courts' decisions from individual legal case and encompasses courts' interpretations of statutes, constitution provisions, administrative law regulations and, in some cases, law originating solely f...
. However, dissenting opinions are sometimes cited as persuasive authority when arguing that the court's holding should be limited or overturned. In some cases, a dissent in an earlier case is used to spur a change in the law, and a later case will write a majority opinion for the same rule of law cited by the dissent in the earlier case.

The dissenting opinion may disagree with the majority for any number of reasons: a different interpretation of the case law, use of different principles, or a different interpretation of the facts.






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A dissenting opinion in a legal case is an opinion
Opinion

An opinion is a belief that may or may not be backed up with evidence, but which cannot be proved with that evidence. An opinion is normally a subjective statement and may be the result of an emotion or an interpretation of facts; people may draw opposing opinions from the same facts....
 of one or more judge
Judge

A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law,which is operated by the local, state, and/or federal government....
s expressing disagreement with the majority opinion
Majority opinion

In law, a majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by a majority of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the Case law of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision....
 of the court which gives rise to its judgment.

A dissenting opinion does not create binding precedent
Stare decisis

Stare decisis is the legal principle under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions.In the United States, which uses a common law system in its federal courts and most of its state courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has stated:...
 or become part of case law
Case law

Case law is the general term for the principles and rules of law set forth in judge legal opinion from courts of law. Case law incorporates courts' decisions from individual legal case and encompasses courts' interpretations of statutes, constitution provisions, administrative law regulations and, in some cases, law originating solely f...
. However, dissenting opinions are sometimes cited as persuasive authority when arguing that the court's holding should be limited or overturned. In some cases, a dissent in an earlier case is used to spur a change in the law, and a later case will write a majority opinion for the same rule of law cited by the dissent in the earlier case.

The dissenting opinion may disagree with the majority for any number of reasons: a different interpretation of the case law, use of different principles, or a different interpretation of the facts. Dissents are written at the same time as the majority opinion, and are often used to dispute the reasoning used by the majority.

A dissent in part is a dissenting opinion which disagrees only with some specific part of the majority holding. In decisions that require multi-part holdings because they involve multiple legal claims or consolidated cases, judges may write an opinion "concurring in part and dissenting in part."

See Also

  • Dissent aversion
    Dissent aversion

    Dissent aversion is the judicial phenomenon that implies that judges do not like dissenting opinion nor do they like to dissent themselves. A common example is as follows: On a panel of appellate judge, only one feels strongly about the decision....