In law, sua sponte (Latin: "of his, her, its or their own accord") or suo motu/suo moto ("on its own motion")[1] describes an act of authority taken without formal prompting from another party.[2] The term is usually applied to actions by a judge taken without a prior motion or request from the parties. The form nostra sponte ("of our own accord") is sometimes used by the court itself, when the action is taken by a multi-member court, such as an appellate court, rather than by a single judge. (Third parties describing such actions would still refer to them as being taken by the court as a whole and therefore as sua sponte.) While usually applied to actions of a court, the term may reasonably be applied to actions by government agencies and individuals acting in their official capacities.[3]
One situation in which a party might encourage a judge to move sua sponte occurs when that party is preserving a special appearance (usually to challenge jurisdiction), and therefore cannot make motions on its behalf without making a general appearance. Judges commonly act sua sponte when they determine that the court does not have subject-matter jurisdiction[4] or that the case should be moved to another judge because of a conflict of interest,[5] even if all parties disagree.
- ^ Castaldo, Jennifer S. (2015-03-13). "Civil Litigation: Obtaining appellate review of a sua sponte order". NY Daily Record. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
- ^ Milani, Adam A.; Smith, Michael R. (2001). "Playing God: A Critical Look at Sua Sponte Decisions by Appellate Courts". Tennessee Law Review. 69: 245.
- ^ Couch, Dick (2013-07-02). Sua Sponte: The Forging of a Modern American Ranger. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-425-25360-1.
- ^ Shannon, Bradley (March 2018). "Reconciling Subject-Matter Jurisdiction". Hofstra Law Review. 46 (3).
- ^ Abramson, Leslie W. (2007). "Judicial Disclosure and Disqualification: The Need for More Guidance". Justice System Journal. 28 (3): 301–308. doi:10.1080/0098261X.2007.10767849. JSTOR 27977352. S2CID 141823072.