§ 1222.Judgment Or Orders Final and Conclusive

Title 5. Of Contempts · Last amended 1951 · Last verified July 29, 2026

In one sentenceSection 1222 declares that a court's judgment or orders in a contempt case are final and conclusive, which is why contempt rulings are generally reviewed by a petition for extraordinary relief rather than by ordinary appeal.

Full Text of § 1222

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The judgment and orders of the court or judge, made in cases of contempt, are final and conclusive.

Plain-English Summary

This is one of the shortest sections in the contempt title, and one of the most consequential. Section 1222 states that the judgment and orders a court makes in contempt cases are final and conclusive.

Because contempt rulings are final and conclusive rather than ordinary appealable judgments, courts and litigants generally treat writ review -- a petition for extraordinary relief, the same mechanism § 1209 references for challenging the lawfulness of an underlying order -- as the path for challenging a contempt finding, rather than a standard notice of appeal.

That finality is also why the earlier sections in this title put so much weight on getting the process right the first time: the affidavit under § 1211, the hearing under § 1217, and the amendment procedures under § 1211.5 all matter more when there's no ordinary appeal to fall back on afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a contempt order in California be appealed to a higher court?

Contempt judgments and orders are final and conclusive under § 1222, so review generally proceeds by a petition for extraordinary relief rather than a standard appeal.

Why does the finality of a contempt order matter so much?

It raises the stakes of getting the underlying procedure right -- the affidavit under § 1211, the hearing under § 1217, and any needed amendment under § 1211.5 -- since there's no ordinary appeal afterward.

Amendment History

Amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1737.

Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature. Last verified July 29, 2026. · Official source

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