Non ultra petita

In law, the principle of non ultra petita, meaning not beyond the request in Latin, holds that a court may not decide more than it has been asked to decide. In particular, the court may not award the winning party more than that party requested. The same principle is expressed in the Latin brocard Ne eat iudex ultra petita partium, often abbreviated to ne ultra petita. It is a traditional basis of the rules of procedure governing civil and administrative litigation in continental legal systems and in public international law, but it does not apply in criminal proceedings. It is closely related to the disposition principle, also called the principle of party disposition or of free disposition, another traditional feature of continental legal systems, under which the parties to civil and administrative cases are free to advance, withhold or withdraw their claims as they see fit and so control the course of the litigation.