Legal Definitions - adjourn

To adjourn means to formally suspend or conclude a meeting, hearing, or session, often with the intention of resuming at a later specified time or place, or ending it permanently. It signifies a formal decision to pause or end proceedings, distinguishing it from a temporary break or recess, which typically occurs within the same ongoing session.

• Example 1: After a full day of testimony in a complex civil trial, the judge announced, "This court will adjourn until Monday morning at 9:00 AM."

  This illustrates adjourning because the judge formally suspended the court proceedings for the weekend, with a clear instruction for when they would resume.

• Example 2: Due to the late hour and the extensive public comment period on a controversial new city ordinance, the City Council voted to adjourn the meeting, agreeing to reconvene the discussion at their next scheduled session.

  Here, the City Council formally ended their current meeting, postponing the remaining agenda items to a future date, which is a classic application of adjourning.

• Example 3: Following the election of new board members and the approval of the annual financial report at a corporate shareholder meeting, the Chairperson declared, "There being no further business, I move to adjourn this annual meeting."

  This demonstrates adjourning as it signifies the formal and complete conclusion of the entire shareholder meeting until the following year.