non pros

9.9

A court decision for the defendant when the plaintiff stops the case or does not appear in court

noun
/nɒn prɒs/

Formal

: no pros

The court entered a non pros when the plaintiff failed to appear for the hearing.

Examples

The judge issued a non pros after the plaintiff failed to show up.
If you do not pursue your claim diligently, your case may be dismissed by non pros.
After several delays, the defendant moved for a non pros due to lack of prosecution.
In legal terms, a non pros means the case is dismissed.
The court entered a non pros when the plaintiff failed to appear for the hearing.
If you do not pursue your claim diligently, your case may be dismissed by non pros.
After several delays, the defendant moved for a non pros due to lack of prosecution.

Synonyms

judgment by default

vsnon pros

Formal

1 7.9

A court decision for one side when the other side does not appear or reply

applies specifically when the plaintiff fails to pursue or appear in their case

non prosequitur

vsnon pros

Formal

9.9

A court ends a case when the person who started it stops acting

is the general expression describing the same court outcome

Surface Forms

non pros singular

non pros plural

Morphology

non + pros

The constituents are not productive English words here (both flagged '[Word not found in dictionary]') and the term is a Latin legal formula (non prosequitur) whose specific courtroom meaning cannot be derived from the parts. Because it is specialized legal jargon and non-compositional for typical learners, a B1 learner would not be able to infer the meaning from the constituent forms.

Etymology

Non pros comes from old Latin, where non means 'not' and pros is short for a word meaning 'to continue' the case. So non pros is used when the person who began the case does not continue it, and the judge 'dismisses' the case.