Is a judge required to enforce a written ruling found in his own official records if one litigant mentions it?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Judiciary
Primary text
If two parties appear before a judge, and one states that his evidence is in the court's register, and the judge retrieves the document from his register and finds it written in his own hand under his seal containing a ruling, the judge must rule based upon it if the litigant mentions it. This view is stated by Ahmad concerning testimony, held by some of our companions, and is the opinion of Abu Hanifa, Al-Shafi'i, and Muhammad ibn Al-Hasan. The rationale is that a document found within the judge's repository under his seal cannot be anything other than authentic.
Supporting text
If the litigant does not mention the existence of the ruling, the judge should not rule based on it. Furthermore, there is a narration from Ahmad that the judge should rule based on it even if not mentioned. The opposing view argues that since it is a ruling by a judge that the current litigant is unaware of, its enforcement requires evidence, just like any other ruling. They also assert that forgery of the judge's handwriting and seal is possible.