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Ripeness
Practical Law Glossary Item 1-513-6234 (Approx. 2 pages)
Glossary
Ripeness
The requirement under Article III of the US Constitution that a claim for relief be an actual controversy meriting judicial intervention. The purpose of the ripeness requirement is to bring before the courts only cases that involve actual or imminent injury (Summers v. Earth Island Inst., 555 U.S. 488, 492 (2009)). Cases that raise only hypothetical or abstract questions are not considered ripe for judicial review (Nike, Inc. v. Already, LLC, 663 F. 3d 89, 94 (2d Cir. 2011)).
For a case to be ripe for judicial review, the controversy must:
- Be definite and concrete.
- Implicate the legal relations of the opposing parties.
- Result in a grant of specific relief through a decree of a conclusive character, such as an order or judgment.