A 'decree nisi' (non-absolute ruling) is a ruling by a court that does not have any force until such time that a particular condition is met. Once the condition is met the ruling becomes decree absolute and is binding. Typically, the condition is that no new evidence or further petitions with a bearing on the case are introduced to the court.
This form of ruling has become a rarity in recent times, with one exception—in some jurisdictions it is still a standard stage of
divorce proceedings. In the
United Kingdom one judge approved 34 decrees nisi in over a minute.
[1] This allows time for any party who objects to the divorce to come forward with those objections. It is also at times termed as rule nisi.