Legal Definitions - pro confesso

Pro confesso is a Latin legal term meaning "as if confessed" or "as having confessed." In legal practice, it refers to a situation where a party is treated as having admitted the claims or allegations made against them, not because they explicitly stated an admission, but because they failed to take a required action in a legal proceeding.

This often occurs when a party fails to respond to a lawsuit, a specific legal request, or to appear in court after being properly notified. The court then presumes that by their inaction, the party has implicitly acknowledged the truth of the opposing party's statements or claims.

Here are some examples illustrating how "pro confesso" applies:

• Failure to Respond to a Lawsuit: Imagine a small business is sued for failing to deliver goods as promised. The business receives the official court summons and complaint, but for some reason, its owner never files a formal response with the court within the legally required timeframe. In this scenario, the court might enter a default judgment against the business pro confesso. This means the court treats the business as having admitted the plaintiff's claims of non-delivery and breach of contract, leading to a judgment in favor of the plaintiff without a full trial on the merits.

• Failure to Respond to Requests for Admission: During the discovery phase of a civil lawsuit, one party might send "requests for admission" to the other, asking them to admit or deny specific facts relevant to the case (e.g., "Admit that your vehicle was traveling above the speed limit."). If the receiving party fails to respond to these requests within the deadline set by court rules, those facts are often deemed admitted pro confesso. This means the court will treat those facts as established and true for the remainder of the lawsuit, without further proof being required.

• Failure to Appear at a Hearing: Consider a landlord-tenant dispute where a tenant has been properly served with notice of an eviction hearing. If the tenant fails to appear in court on the scheduled date without a valid excuse, the judge might proceed pro confesso. The court could then rule in favor of the landlord, treating the tenant's absence as an implicit admission of the landlord's claims (e.g., non-payment of rent or violation of lease terms), leading to an eviction order.