Judicial penalties (9)
I believe the answer is:
sentences
'judicial penalties' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for sentences that I've seen before include "Sets of words, or punishments awarded by courts" , "Word sets of senescent origin" , "Declares punishment for" , "Strings of words or periods of imprisonment" , "Groups of words as punishments for crimes" .)