Definition
The property that a decisive action does not close its own categories, evidence, or jurisdiction against revision. A system with non-finality can act now and be corrected later; a system whose decisions become final by default converts each exercise of power into an entitlement. The challenge is its instrument at the level of outcomes, and meta-contestability extends it to the rules of challenge themselves. Non-finality is not indecision: the system acts now. A case left undecided is pendingness, which is a harm in its own right.
It matters because finality is how power consolidates quietly: an initial judgment that cannot be reopened becomes precedent for the next, and the category that produced the judgment becomes harder to question than the judgment itself. The rights tradition names the interruption — appeal interrupts the conversion of decision into finality — and Law XII bars consuming the capacity that keeps it possible.
Tests that show it is in place
- A decided outcome can be reopened on stated grounds without extraordinary procedure.
- Categories and evidentiary rules stay revisable after decisions were made under them.
- The institution's jurisdiction itself can be challenged, not only its outcomes.
Evidence to keep
- Artifact: A reopen register: decided outcomes with the grounds and clock on which each can be reopened.
- Behavior: A decision reopened on stated grounds, with the category or rule it questioned still changeable.
- Metric: Share of consequential decision classes with a stated reopen route and clock.
References
- Anti-conversion rights · Term
- Laws · Doctrine