Legal Definitions - juridical day

Juridical day refers to a day that is recognized by the legal system for conducting official business, such as court proceedings, filing documents, or calculating legal deadlines.

Essentially, it is a day when courts are open and operating, and legal actions can legitimately take place. This term often distinguishes such days from weekends, public holidays, or other non-working days when legal offices and courts are typically closed, and legal deadlines may not advance.

• Example 1: Filing a Legal Document

  Imagine a lawyer has a deadline to file an important legal brief by Friday, October 27th. If October 27th is a regular weekday and the courts are open, it is considered a juridical day, and the lawyer can successfully file the brief. However, if October 27th were a national holiday, it would not be a juridical day, and the deadline would typically extend to the next day the courts are open for business.

• Example 2: Court Hearing Schedule

  A judge schedules a hearing for a specific date, say, Wednesday, March 15th. For this hearing to proceed, March 15th must be a juridical day. If, unexpectedly, a severe weather event caused the courthouse to close on that day, it would cease to be a juridical day for practical purposes, and the hearing would need to be rescheduled to another day when the court is operational.

• Example 3: Calculating a Response Period

  A legal notice states that a party has "10 juridical days" to respond. This means the party has 10 days on which legal business can be conducted, excluding weekends and public holidays. If the notice was received on a Monday, the 10-day period would count only weekdays when courts are open, effectively extending the calendar duration of the response period compared to simply counting 10 consecutive calendar days.