civil-law landlord civil-procedure court new-jersey
Is a judge required to explain his ruling?
<p>A friend of mine was recently in Special Civil court where the Defendant submitted a 25 page motion to dismiss the case.</p>
<p>The judge read the motion (to himself, quietly) and announced that he does not agree with the motion. He gave less than a two minute explanation - addressing only a small fraction of the arguments raised in the motion and then proceeded to discuss the actual case.</p>
<p>Is a judge required to go through each argument separately and explain why it isn't valid? Is the party who filed the motion entitled to a clear and thorough understanding as to what grounds the motion is being rejected?</p>
<p>If the party who filed the motion isn't aware on what grounds the judge dismissed the motion, how can they file an appeal?</p>

<p>Denial of a motion to dismiss is not an appealable order. Likewise, denial of a motion for summary judgment cannot be appealed except in rare cases where it deals with a privilege against being sued like qualified or absolute immunity from suit.</p>
<p>If an order can be appealed, it can be reversed on appeal if the trial court did not provide an adequate basis to justify its ruling.</p>
