A review opinion is the majority opinion of a court, written by one judge or a panel of judges. Judges may also write concurring or dissenting opinions. Plurality opinions have less value as precedent.
A review opinion is the description of the reasoning used by the court in forming its judgment. In general, it is the opinion of the majority of the judges of a court in a given decision. There are circumstances where there is no clear majority for the court’s opinion, so the first opinion listed in a decision is considered the controlling opinion of the case.
Usually, a judge writes the opinion of the court. When this judge is part of a panel, the different judges decide which opinion to give their name to. Judges participating in the opinion determine whether they agree with the reasoning included in the opinion or agree with the opinion only in the outcome. Each judge will sign an opinion only when he agrees with the whole opinion. The opinion that receives the majority of panel members as signatories will be the control opinion for that case.
When one or more judges agree only with the outcome of a specific opinion, these judges may choose to join together to write a separate concurring opinion. Concurring opinion does not carry the same weight as majority opinion, but can be cited to persuade a court on a specific point. Judges can choose not to write an opinion. In such a circumstance, these competing judges could designate to agree in the opinion only by writing it alongside the majority opinion and signing their names.
A review opinion differs from a dissenting opinion in that the dissenting opinion is the opinion of a minority of the justices sitting in the panel. The control opinion expresses the reasons of the majority of the judges who sit in the panel. The dissenting minority disagrees with the majority opinion. This minority disagrees with the outcome of the scrutiny opinion, while the concurrent opinion agrees with the scrutiny opinion.
Several other forms of opinion are used by different courts to express the reasoning used in making the court’s decision. When there is no clear majority for a group of opinions in a case, the opinions are called plurality opinions. These views may not be of use to a party if used as a precedent in a future case, as the court did not have a clear reason why it made a decision. A review opinion has more value in a court of law when it is used to explain a position in a case.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
