Status quo
the status quo
The status quo is the existing factual or legal situation that must be maintained until a judicial decision is rendered.
The term status quo, derived from Latin, literally means ‘the state in which’. In Dutch law, it denotes the existing factual or legal position that the parties may not unilaterally alter.
The concept is particularly relevant in proceedings for interim relief and summary proceedings, where the court may order that the status quo be preserved in order to prevent irreparable harm or a fait accompli.
In practice, maintaining the status quo affords both parties the opportunity to have the matter determined on its merits without the position of either party becoming irreversibly altered in the meantime.
“The interim relief judge ordered that the status quo be maintained until judgment had been rendered in the main proceedings.”
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