Adjournment sine die

Adjournment sine die (from Latin 'without a date') is the conclusion of a meeting by a deliberative assembly, such as a legislature or organizational board, without setting a date to reconvene.<ref>Sine die Webster's New World College Dictionary, Retrieved July 18th, 2009</ref> The assembly can reconvene, either in its present form or a reconstituted form, if preexisting laws and rules provide for this. Otherwise the adjournment effectively dissolves the assembly.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

A court may also adjourn a matter sine die, which means that the matter is stayed until further notice. In a sine die adjournment of this type, the hearing stands open indefinitely, and could theoretically be resumed if the situation changed.<ref>Glossary - Latin Terms: Sine Die Template:Webarchive Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, Retrieved May 16, 2011</ref> For example, a case may be adjourned sine die if there is no possibility of proceeding in the foreseeable future, such as when the defendant is in prison and cannot participate in legal proceedings.Template:Citation needed

United States usage

The Congress of the United States customarily adjourns a session sine die on the morning of January 3, immediately before the next session holds its constitutionally mandated first meeting. It can also adjourn sine die at other times through a concurrent resolution that allows the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader to resume the session.<ref name=uss>"Adjournment sine die", US Senate Glossary, Retrieved July 18, 2009</ref>

State legislatures follow suit and mark adjournment sine die with a ceremony, such as the Connecticut General Assembly wherein, on the final day of the legislative session, the House and Senate meet in a joint convention, and the Secretary of the State recites "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez", pounds the gavel, and declares the legislature adjourned sine die.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the Florida Legislature, the sergeants-at-arms of the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives step outside their chambers each holding a handkerchief. When they meet in between the chambers, they both drop the handkerchiefs, signifying the end of the legislative session.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Hong Kong usage

On 28 June 1997, Andrew Wong, President of the last Legislative Council of Hong Kong as a British crown colony, which was to be dissolved by the incoming sovereign power over Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, and replaced by a provisional legislature, declared at the end of its last session: "In accordance with the Standing Orders of the Legislative Council, I now adjourn the Council, sine die."<ref name=hk>Hansard, 27 June 1997, Legislative Council for 1996/97 Session (P.224) HKSAR Legislative Council Website, retrieved February 19, 2012</ref>