sua sponte

[ soo-uh spon-tee, -tey ]

adverb

, Law.

1. (used by a judge or court to indicate that a motion is coming from the court itself and was not introduced or prompted by either party to the judicial matter.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of sua sponte¹

First recorded in 1805–15; from Latin: “by one's free will”; suicide ( def ), spontaneous ( def )

Example Sentences

Worse yet, the Court seemingly moves the goalposts with each new case it takes, most recently by sua sponte discarding a test that was uniformly embraced by courts across the country and replacing it with a harsh ‘history-and-tradition’ test no one asked for.

From Slate

Even without this complaint, the Grievance Committee could also act sua sponte where infamous criminal notoriety might instead suffice, as may have been the case when it disbarred Michael Cohen.

From Slate

All the civilian female defense attorneys wore Islamic headdresses when their clients were present—not at the request of their clients, nor for religious reasons, but sua sponte, to build trust.

From Wall Street Journal

Because of the very conflicts outlined above, neither President Trump nor Attorney General Jeff Sessions appear likely to commission a special counsel, let alone do so sua sponte.

From Slate

Privacy Policy Sua sponte: Hereto within, both for consideration and exemplification in abeyance subject to adjudication pro se and terms whereto superseding justifies the underscore until res judicata thuslyrelieving ALL satisfactions.

From Forbes