Definition: Ex Parte

Didn\\\'t Like ItLiked It (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

Ex parte refers to contact between a party to litigation (including the party’s counsel) and the court without notice to the other parties to the litigation. In Texas, Ex parte can act as an adjective, an adverb, and a verb depending on the context:

Adjective: “Prosecutors have ex parte communications with judges all the time.”
Adverb: “Prosecutors discuss cases with judges ex parte all the time.”
Verb: “Prosecutors ex parte judges all the time.”

Ex parte communications are generally improper under court rules, judicial ethics, and legal ethics. One notable exception is when the accused in a criminal case has to ask the judge to approve something that is none of the State’s business — for example, court payment to a defense expert under Ake v. Oklahoma.

Technorati Tags: ,

One Response to “Definition: Ex Parte”

  1. on 14 Jun 2007 at 10:43 amScott Greenfield

    I note a theme in your 3 examples. Freudian?

    SHG

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

By submitting a comment here you give me permission to use your words in any way I like, including editing them for clarity, brevity, or content, as well as rearranging the words or the letters within them to change their very meaning. Those who engage in anonymous ad hominem attacks are the car-keyers of the internet, and will not be tolerated. If you engage in such attacks, I may edit the post to show your name or to make it appear that you are attacking yourself. Or both. I don't have to let you comment here. Don't do so for blatant marketing purposes; do so only to add to the discussion. Once you click "submit comment" you have given up all interest in your words to me, and have no further interest in your words. You agree never to sue, grieve, or complain to anyone about the use that I make of the letters you have typed. If you even threaten to do so, you agree that you will be held up to eternal public ridicule.