sine die

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

Adjournment sine die (from the Latin "without day") means "without any future date being designated for resumption" or "indefinitely". It is often used with reference to meetings or when an organised body's existence terminates.

United States usage

It is often used in reference to legislatures whose terms or mandates are coming to an end, as in "The One Hundred Tenth Congress of the United States closed its second session today by adjourning sine die." This would mean that it is anticipated that this particular body will not meet again; the next session of the Congress would have a different membership: Some members would not be standing for election again, while others might not win reelection. However, a legislative body may be called back into special session.

A corporate board might adjourn sine die if the corporation were being sold, merged, or liquidated.

A court may also adjourn a matter sine die, which means the matter is stayed permanently. This may be due to various reasons, for example if the case is started with a wrong procedure chosen the judge may adjourn the matter sine die so that the party may choose to start the action again with the correct procedure.

Another sense of the term, often used by lawyers, does not connote permanent adjournment. When a deposition, for example, is adjourned sine die, it means that no date has yet been set for its resumption, not that it will never be resumed. In fact, it implies that a new date will be set.

The common pronunciation of sine die in the United States Congress is "SEE-nei DEE-ei".

Adjournment sine die is an adjournment until the next session of Congress, there being two sessions to each numbered Congress - i.e., the 110th Congress met in 2007 (first session) and in 2008 (second session). Sine die adjournments in the Congress typically do not have a date certain, but rather are determined by the Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Senate at a later time.