Non ultra petita
In law, the principle of non ultra petita, meaning "not beyond the request" in Latin, means that a court may not decide more than it has been asked to.[1] In particular, the court may not award more to the winning party than it requested.[2] The same principle is expressed in the Latin brocard Ne eat iudex ultra petita partium aut breviter ne ultra petita, often abbreviated to ne ultra petita.
The principle is a traditional basis of the rules of procedure governing civil and administrative litigation in continental legal systems, and in public international law.[1][2] In contrast, it does not apply in criminal proceedings.
It is closely related to the disposition principle (also called "principle of party disposition" or "principle of free disposition"), also a traditional feature of continental legal systems. It states that in civil and administrative cases, the parties are free to dispose of their claims – advancing, withholding or withdrawing them as they see fit – and may thereby control the course of the litigation.[3]
References
- Mavroidis, Petros C. (2000). "Remedies in the WTO Legal System: Between a Rock and a Hard Place" (PDF). European Journal of International Law. 11 (4).
- Ronen, Yaėl (2006). The Law and Practice of the International Court, 1920-2005: The court and the United Nations. BRILL. p. 576. ISBN 978-90-04-15019-5.
- "Board of Appeal decision T 1400/11 of 3 July 2014, point 2". European Patent Office. August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
... the entitlement of parties to direct the course of the proceedings themselves ("principle of party disposition")...