§ 8.01-648.What judgment to be rendered.

After the case has been heard on its merits, this section supplies the general judgment standard: the court awards or denies the writ according to the law and facts of the case. That is a deliberately general standard, leaving the specific factors to whatever mandamus or prohibition doctrine applies to the underlying dispute rather than listing them in the statute itself.

Costs are left to the court’s discretion either way — the writ may be awarded or denied with or without costs, rather than costs following automatically from the outcome.

This section is the baseline that governs when the case does not fall into the default-judgment scenario in § 8.01-646; that section addresses a defendant who fails to appear or defend, while this one governs judgment once the case has been contested.