status quo

In litigation, an order to “maintain status quo” directs the parties not to change the position of the property or subject matter (by selling, building, evicting or altering it) until the court decides further. It is a common interim order in property suits and works much like a temporary injunction.

Status quo ante means the position that existed before a particular event, so restoring status quo ante means undoing what was done. A status quo order should say clearly what the position is (for example, who is in possession); a vague order is a frequent source of contempt disputes.

Example

Pending the hearing of the injunction application, the court directed both parties to maintain status quo regarding possession of the suit land.

In Indian law

• Order XXXIX, Rules 1 and 2, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (temporary injunctions and interlocutory orders)

See also

temporary injunction · stay · injunction

Read more in the study notes

• Emergency provisions (Constitutional Law II)
• Injunctions: temporary, perpetual and mandatory (Contract I)
• Absolute liability, polluter pays and the precautionary principle (Environmental Law)
• Emergency powers and President's Rule under Article 356 (Indian Constitutional Law - New Challenges)
• Research tools, policy research, hypothesis, plagiarism and the report (overview for this paper) (Legal Education and Research Methodology)
• Research design, the steps of legal research and policy research (Research Methodology)