13.9 DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS
13.901 In General. Sections 8.01-184 through 8.01-191 of the Virginia Code provide a procedure for obtaining a declaration of rights under a contract where the parties have an actual dispute over the contract's meaning, application, or effect. The United States Code 409 creates a declaratory judgment remedy in disputes over which the federal courts have subject matter jurisdiction.
The purpose of a declaratory judgment proceeding is to determine the parties' stated rights under the contract, not to determine disputed factual issues. 410 If the judgment will be determinative of disputed issues, as opposed to a declaration of stated rights under the contract, the case is not a proper one for declaratory judgment, and standard forms of legal or equitable relief should be pursued. 411 "[W]here claims and rights asserted have fully matured, and the alleged wrongs have already been suffered, a declaratory
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judgment proceeding, which is intended to permit the declaration of rights before they mature, is not an available remedy." 412 At the same time, a declaratory judgment cannot be used merely to request an advisory opinion or to seek a ruling on a merely theoretical question. 413 Rather, there must be specific adverse claims and the plaintiff must have a justiciable interest in the dispute, for example, the plaintiff must identify a specific injury that it seeks to avoid or a specific right that will be affected by the court's decision. 414
Courts should not permit a party to use declaratory judgment procedures to determine whether there has been a breach of contract, because to do so changes...
