Definition
A Law French pleading term meaning "without this that." Used in common law pleading as the operative words of a special traverse — the formal denial by which a party, while admitting certain facts, specifically denied a particular allegation of the opposing party. The phrase introduced the matter being traversed, signaling to the court that what followed was the precise fact being contested rather than a general denial.
Common Language
This is pure legal jargon with no meaningful common counterpart. The phrase is Law French — the anglicized medieval French used in English courts — and has no living ordinary usage.
Common Confusion
SANS CEO QUE and ABSQUE HOC are the same legal device, expressed in two different languages. Absque hoc (Latin: "without this that") and sans ceo que (Law French: the same) perform identical pleading functions and were used interchangeably depending on whether a given text or pleading was drafted in Latin or Law French. All five source dictionaries define sans ceo que by direct reference to absque hoc. Researchers should not treat these as distinct legal concepts — they are parallel-language labels for one pleading formula. Historical sources occasionally vary in which form they index primarily; cross-checking both entries in any source is advisable.
Why It Matters in Research
This term matters primarily as a navigational pointer. Any researcher encountering sans ceo que in a historical pleading or legal text should immediately look to absque hoc for substantive treatment — the historical dictionaries unanimously redirect there, and that entry carries the full doctrinal weight.
In manuscript and printed records from the thirteenth through seventeenth centuries, Law French and Latin forms coexist and sometimes intermix within the same document. A researcher reading a Year Book or early common law plea roll may encounter sans ceo que where a later digest would use absque hoc. Recognizing both forms as equivalent prevents misreading the pleading structure.
The formula declines in significance after the reform of common law pleading. The Common Law Procedure Act 1852 in England substantially curtailed formal traverse practice, and American procedural reforms — culminating in the adoption of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 1938 — rendered both sans ceo que and absque hoc obsolete as operative terms. Any appearance of the phrase in materials after the mid-nineteenth century is almost certainly either historical quotation, academic discussion, or drafting in a specialized jurisdiction that retained older forms longer.
Burrill's entry is the most instructive in the corpus: it provides the Latin equivalent, explains the pleading function, and quotes a working example from Britton — a thirteenth-century English legal treatise — showing the formula in actual use. That example is worth locating for researchers trying to understand how the traverse operated in practice, not merely in theory.
Historical Dictionary Support
The five source dictionaries agree entirely on the meaning and handling of this term. All define sans ceo que as the Law French equivalent of absque hoc and treat it as a redirect entry. There is no disagreement and no evolution of definition across the sources — this is a stable, narrow technical term with a single agreed meaning.
Burrill's Law Dictionary stands apart from the other four in providing genuine analytical content rather than a bare cross-reference. Burrill identifies the Latin antecedent (absque hoc quod), explains the pleading context (special traverse), and quotes from Britton to illustrate the formula's deployment. Researchers seeking historical depth on the traverse mechanism itself should consult Burrill's treatment at absque hoc, which presumably carries a fuller exposition, as well as Bouvier's treatment of the same.
Black's (both editions) and Rapalje & Lawrence treat this as a pure redirect, which is standard dictionary economy for parallel-language synonyms. Bouvier uses identical treatment. None of the sources flag any divergence between the Law French and Latin forms in terms of application or effect.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Pleading (Common Law); Traverse; Absque Hoc.