,
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
for , is a term with several different, but related meanings.
Legal use
In the
legal system in the United States, is used to indicate that a
judicial proceeding may not have formally designated adverse parties or is otherwise uncontested. is an alternative to the more typical
adversarial form of
case designation, which names each case as "''
Plaintiff
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
v.'' (versus) ''
Defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one juris ...
''", as in ''
Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...
'' or ''
Miranda v. Arizona
''Miranda v. Arizona'', 384 U.S. 436 (1966), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that law enforcement in the United States must warn a person of their constitutional righ ...
''.
is commonly used in case citations of
probate
In common law jurisdictions, 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, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...
and
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
proceedings, such as the
General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization
The 2009 General Motors Chapter 11 sale of the assets of automobile manufacturer General Motors and some of its subsidiaries was implemented through Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code in the United States bankruptcy court for the Southern ...
, which was formally designated ''In re General Motors Corp''. in court papers.
The term is also sometimes used for consolidated cases, as with ''
In re Marriage Cases
''In re Marriage Cases'', 43 Cal. 4th 757 (Cal. 2008) was a California Supreme Court case where the court held that laws treating classes of persons differently based on sexual orientation should be subject to strict judicial scrutiny, and tha ...
''. It was adopted by certain U.S. states, like
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, when they adopted
no-fault divorce
No-fault divorce is the dissolution of a marriage that does not require a showing of wrongdoing by either party. Laws providing for no-fault divorce allow a family court to grant a divorce in response to a petition by either party of the marria ...
to reflect the fact that the modern proceeding for dissolution of marriage was being taken out of the adversarial system. It is also used in
juvenile court
Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, chi ...
s, as, for instance, ''
In re Gault
''In re Gault'', 387 U.S. 1 (1967), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision which held the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment applies to juvenile defendants as well as to adult defendants. Juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency ...
''.
The ''
Bluebook
''The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation'' is a style guide that prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. It is taught and used at a majority of Law school in the United States, law schools in the United S ...
'', a legal citation and style guide used by American lawyers and law schools, describes as a "procedural phrase", and requires that citations use to abbreviate , , , and similar expressions.
See also
*
Reference question
In law of Canada, Canadian law, a reference question or reference case (formally called abstract review) is a submission by the Canadian government, federal or a Provinces and territories of Canada, provincial government to the courts asking for a ...
References
External links
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Latin legal terminology
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