Sua sponte

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 by another party.^[2] The term is usually applied to actions taken by a judge without a prior motion or request from the parties. The form nostra sponte ("of our own accord") is sometimes used 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.

Notable cases

• In Carlisle v. United States, 517 U.S. 416 (1996), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a district court could not move sua sponte to grant a judgment of acquittal (notwithstanding the verdict) to remedy the late filing of the equivalent motion.^[6]
• In Trest v. Cain, 522 U.S. 87 (1997), 94 F.3d 1005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit moved sua sponte to reject a habeas corpus claim because of procedural default, citing an obligation to do so. The Supreme Court ruled that this was not obligatory but declined to rule whether it was permitted.^[7]
• Since 2009, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has frequently taken up suo motu cases against government authorities involving violence, corruption, imposition of price ceilings on various commodities, and so on.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} The extent to which the court should exercise this authority is a matter of political debate.^[13]

Other uses

• The United States Army Rangers' 75th Ranger Regiment's motto is Sua Sponte, referring to the Rangers' ability to accomplish tasks with little to no prompting and to recognize that a Ranger volunteers three times: for the U.S. Army, Airborne School, and service in the 75th Ranger Regiment.^[14]

See also

• Motu proprio