Also known as: postponed to a definite time · postponing to a definite time · continuance · postponement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A motion or directive that delays consideration of a pending matter to a specified future time or until a specified condition occurs, typically preserving the matter for later action.
Senator Ramirez moves during floor debate to postpone to a definite time the bill adjusting Article III judicial salaries. The motion passes and sets the measure for the next legislative day. When the specified time arrives the Senate resumes debate without the bill losing its place on the calendar.
Danielle emails Gerald that the hospital will review all new purchasing decisions and directs him to halt further orders until the review concludes at the end of the month. The email postpones to a definite time any new authority to bind the hospital. Gerald receives clear notice and therefore cannot bind the hospital to later equipment contracts.
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The city council schedules an eminent-domain hearing to acquire a view easement but then moves to postpone the hearing to a definite date sixty days later. The postponement allows the servient owner time to plant trees consistent with the servitude before the taking occurs. When the later date arrives the council proceeds with condemnation limited to the original purpose.
A judgment creditor obtains a lien on land held in fee simple conditional and moves the court to postpone enforcement proceedings to a definite date six months hence. The postponement preserves the debtor's power to transfer the interest during the lien's continuance. At the later date the creditor may reach only those interests the debtor then holds power to convey.
After an avalanche closes the sole mountain pass, Royal Lines moves to postpone performance of the daily trucking contract to a definite date thirty days after official reopening. The court finds the postponement satisfies the contractual termination clause because the closure could not be prevented and continued performance would impose materially increased costs. Royal's duty therefore ends on the specified date without breach.
All beneficiaries of an irrevocable noncharitable trust petition the court to postpone a termination hearing to a definite date six months later while they negotiate a modification. The court grants the postponement after concluding that immediate termination is unnecessary to any material purpose. At the later hearing the court approves a modification consistent with the trust's purposes.
Postpone to a definite time sets consideration for a specific future meeting or condition and keeps the motion alive as unfinished business. Postpone indefinitely disposes of the motion for the session without reaching its merits and prevents further consideration during that session.
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Parliamentary rules treat the motion as debatable and amendable but still require a second unless the assembly's special rules provide otherwise.
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Yes. The motion is in order at any time before the main motion is voted on, provided it is made when no other privileged motion is pending.
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…2, c. 87. The Act permits a licensed physician to perform an abortion where two other licensed physicians agree (a) "that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, or of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or any existing children of her family, greater…