Sua sponte

{{Short description|Action taken in law without request from another party}}

In law, sua sponte (Latin: "of his, her, its, or their own accord") or suo motu/suo moto ("on its own motion"){{Cite web|last=Castaldo|first=Jennifer S.|date=2015-03-13|title=Civil Litigation: Obtaining appellate review of a sua sponte order|url=https://nydailyrecord.com/2015/03/13/civil-litigation-obtaining-appellate-review-of-a-sua-sponte-order/|access-date=2021-08-30|website=NY Daily Record|language=en-US}} describes an act of authority taken without formal prompting by another party.{{cite journal |last1=Milani |first1=Adam A. |last2=Smith |first2=Michael R. |title=Playing God: A Critical Look at Sua Sponte Decisions by Appellate Courts |journal=Tennessee Law Review |date=2001 |volume=69 |page=245}} 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.{{Cite book|last=Couch|first=Dick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=14ApDwAAQBAJ|title=Sua Sponte: The Forging of a Modern American Ranger|date=2013-07-02|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-425-25360-1|language=en}}

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{{cite journal |last1=Shannon |first1=Bradley |title=Reconciling Subject-Matter Jurisdiction |journal=Hofstra Law Review |date=March 2018 |volume=46 |issue=3 |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/hlr/vol46/iss3/7/ }} or that the case should be moved to another judge because of a conflict of interest,{{cite journal |last1=Abramson |first1=Leslie W. |title=Judicial Disclosure and Disqualification: The Need for More Guidance |journal=Justice System Journal |date=2007 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=301–308 |doi=10.1080/0098261X.2007.10767849 |jstor=27977352 |s2cid=141823072 }} even if all parties disagree.