Adjournment ''sine die'' (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

"without a day") is the conclusion of a meeting by a

deliberative assembly A deliberative assembly is a meeting of members who use parliamentary procedure. Etymology In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the British Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became th ...

, such as a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

or organizational board, without setting a day to reconvene. The assembly can reconvene, either in its present form or a reconstituted form, if preexisting laws and rules provide for this. Otherwise the adjournment effectively dissolves the assembly. A

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

may also adjourn a matter ''sine die'', which means that the matter is stayed until further notice. In a ''sine die'' adjournment of this type, the hearing stands open indefinitely, and could theoretically be resumed if the situation changed. For example, a case may be adjourned ''sine die'' if there is no possibility of proceeding in the foreseeable future, such as when the defendant is in prison and cannot participate in legal proceedings.

United States usage

The

Congress of the United States The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Wash ...

customarily adjourns a session ''sine die'' on the morning of January 3, immediately before the next session holds its constitutionally mandated first meeting. It can also adjourn ''sine die'' at other times through a

concurrent resolution A concurrent resolution is a resolution (a legislative measure) adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law (is non-binding) and does not require the approval of the chief executive (president). Concurrent resolut ...

that allows the Speaker of the House and

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

to resume the session."Adjournment sine die"
US Senate Glossary, Retrieved July 18, 2009 Some state legislatures mark adjournment ''sine die'' with a ceremony. In the Florida Legislature, the sergeants-at-arms of the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in ...

and the Florida House of Representatives step outside their chambers each holding a handkerchief. When they meet in between the chambers, they both drop the handkerchiefs, signifying the end of the legislative session.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Latin legal terminology Parliamentary procedure