''Nunc pro tunc'' (English translation: "now for then") is a Latin expression legal term originating in Great Britain, now in common use in other countries. In general, a ruling ''nunc pro tunc'' applies retroactively to correct an earlier ruling.

Legal definition

''Nunc pro tunc'' may apply when "a judgment is entered, or document enrolled, so as to have the same legal force and effect as if it had been entered or enrolled on an earlier day". quoted in at p. 131. That type of order originated from the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

from 1388. at pp. 131–132 per Toohey J. In 1805,

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

Lord Eldon Earl of Eldon, in the County Palatine of Durham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1821 for the lawyer and politician John Scott, 1st Baron Eldon, Lord Chancellor from 1801 to 1806 and again from 1807 to 1827. ...

, said, "The Court will enter a Decree ''nunc pro tunc'', if satisfied from its own official documents, that it is only doing now what it would have done then". ''Nunc pro tunc'' may apply also to acts that are allowed after the legally-allotted time to do them has passed. For example, in the

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

of an estate, if property, such as lands, mineral interests, etc., are discovered after the final decree or order, a ''nunc pro tunc'' order may include the discovered lands or assets into the estate and clarify how they were meant to be distributed. Also, when a court clerk makes a clerical error or a mistake on the public record, a ''nunc pro tunc'' order may correct the record for the accurate reflection of judicial proceedings and agreements that were reached between parties.

Corporate application

A corporation may have been created by an individual, but since a corporation in the United States has the standing in law of a person although it is not a natural person, its human creator may go bankrupt, and the assets of the corporation may be seized to satisfy unpaid taxes. If someone buys those assets from the tax authority and the corporation shell passed into other hands, the person who bought the assets may also buy the corporation shell, and after paying the applicable corporate

franchise tax A franchise tax is a government levy (tax) charged by some US states to certain business organizations such as corporations and partnerships with a nexus in the state. A franchise tax is not based on income. Rather, the typical franchise tax ca ...

, that person may claim that the corporation is ''nunc pro tunc'' the original corporation with the original assets.

Internal Revenue Service

Some taxpayers file returns or other documents with the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

(IRS) that have the phrase "''nunc pro tunc''" stamped or written on the face of the return or document. Those taxpayers assert that the phrase "''nunc pro tunc''" has some legal effect in reducing, eliminating, or altering in some way their federal income tax liability or other obligations under the tax laws. According to the IRS, that is considered to be a "frivolous" argument, which is subject to $5,000 fine. Inserting the phrase "''nunc pro tunc''" or similar arguments on a return or other document submitted to the IRS has no legal effect.

Litigation

A judgment ''nunc pro tunc'' is an action by a trial court correcting a clerical, rather than judicial, error in a prior judgment. A ''nunc pro tunc'' may be signed even after the trial court loses its

plenary power A plenary power or plenary authority is a complete and absolute power to take action on a particular issue, with no limitations. It is derived from the Latin term ''plenus'' ("full"). United States In United States constitutional law, plenary p ...

. For

appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

purposes, a ''nunc pro tunc'' judgment that is correctly taken ordinarily does not extend appellate deadlines.

Catholic Church

In the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

's resignation is often accepted by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

''nunc pro tunc'', which means it is tentatively accepted, but the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

needs some time to locate and appoint a replacement for that

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

. The announcement of the new appointment is usually accompanied by actual acceptance of the outgoing bishop's resignation.

References

{{reflist, 30em, refs= Latin legal terminology