extrajudicial

American  

[ek-struh-joo-dish-uhl] / ˌɛk strə dʒuˈdɪʃ əl /

adjective

1. outside of judicial proceedings; beyond the action or authority of a court.

2. beyond, outside, or against the usual procedure of justice; legally unwarranted.

   an extrajudicial penalty.

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extrajudicial British  

/ ˌɛkstrədʒuːˈdɪʃəl /

adjective

1. outside the ordinary course of legal proceedings

   extrajudicial evidence

2. beyond the jurisdiction or authority of the court

   an extrajudicial opinion

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Other Word Forms

• extrajudicially adverb

Etymology

Origin of extrajudicial

First recorded in 1620–30; extra- + judicial

Explanation

Something that's extrajudicial isn't backed or upheld by the law. Taking revenge on someone instead of taking them to court is an extrajudicial punishment. If a prisoner is executed without an official trial in a court, it's extrajudicial, and if police officers shoot and kill a suspect instead of arresting him, that would also be extrajudicial. Both examples happen outside of the legal process, and without the checks and balances that the law provides. Extrajudicial comes from the Latin root words extra, "outside of," and iudicalis, "belonging to a court of justice."

Example Sentences

Critics say the strikes amount to extrajudicial killings and are unnerving U.S. allies who are increasingly wary of sharing intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025

The US Justice Department insists the strikes were "lawful" and rejected accusations by a senior UN official that they were "extrajudicial".

From Barron's • Nov. 25, 2025

Mr Gottlieb accused Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, of making "inflammatory extrajudicial comments" about Lively's "character and motives" during appearances on news channels.

From BBC • Feb. 3, 2025

“Optimism is not my specialty,” Holzer, 73, freely conceded during a recent conversation at her river-facing Brooklyn studio, where one work after another bore witness to extrajudicial incarceration, “enhanced interrogation” and other governmental malfeasance.

From New York Times • May 16, 2024

Before trial was ventured upon, he procured an extrajudicial opinion of the Judges appointed for such services,—irregularly given, out of court, that they would declare such an act high treason.

From The Trial of Theodore Parker For the "Misdemeanor" of a Speech in Faneuil Hall against Kidnapping, before the Circuit Court of the United States, at Boston, April 3, 1855, with the Defence by Parker, Theodore