终审是法院对案件的最后一级审判。我国实行两审终审制,中级人民法院、高级人民法院、最高人民法院受理的第二审案件(除香港、澳门地区外,由于一国两制情况,终审在当地终审法院),或最高人民法院审判的第一审案件,都是终审,当事人不能再上诉。终审法院即作出最后一级审判的法院。
终审法院的英文可以用“court of last resort”来表述:
A court of last resort is the highest judicial body within a jurisdiction's court system. It is a court with the highest appellate authority, meaning that its rulings are not subject to further review by another court. A court of last resort is often, but not always, referred to as a supreme court.
final judgment并非终审判决。
该术语常被人误认为是“终审判决”,目前几乎大部分英汉法律词典或相关工具书都存在这一错误。
然而,从定义上看,“终审判决”,是指法院对案件的最后一级判决。而维基百科中对final judgment的解释中却看不出这一点:Final judgment is the last decision from a court that resolves all issues in dispute and settles the parties' rights with respect to those issues. A final judgment leaves nothing to be decided except decisions on how to enforce the judgment, whether to award costs, and whether to file an appeal. 这一final judgment的英文定义仅将其解释为解决所有争议问题以及双方在这些争议中的权利的最终决定。
从此意义上讲,final judgment译为“最终判决”更为合适,它本身的含义为初审法院对案件实体(merits)做了审理后作出的可上诉的判决(故它也称为final appealable judgment、final appealable order等),其与法院的审级完全无关。
因而,终审判决可根据其释义(终审法院作出的判决)进行翻译,即judgment of court of last resort或judgment of last resort。
但需要注意的是,如果在某一语境中,同时提及了final和cannot be appealed,则可以将此处的final译为“终审判决”。如:
提交人称,比什凯克市级法院的判决是终审判决,不能再继续上诉。
This decision of the Bishkek City Court, according to the author, is final and cannot be appealed any further.