Sine qua non

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Sine qua non

Sine qua non (or Latinate ) or conditio sine qua non (plural sine quibus non) was originally a Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
legal

LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
term for "(a condition) without which it could not be" or "but for..." or "without which (there is) nothing." It refers to an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient.

As a Latin term, it occurs in the work of Boethius

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

Anicius Manlius Severinus Bo?thius was a Christian or pagan philosopher of the 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many Roman consul....
, and originated in Aristotelian

Aristotelian

Aristotelian matters may refer to:* Aristotle * List of teachings attributed to Aristotle* Aristotelianism, the philosophical tradition begun by Aristotle...
expressions.

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Sine qua non (or Latinate ) or conditio sine qua non (plural sine quibus non) was originally a Latin

Latin

LAW

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

Aristotelian

Aristotelian matters may refer to:* Aristotle * List of teachings attributed to Aristotle* Aristotelianism, the philosophical tradition begun by Aristotle...
expressions. In recent times it has passed from a merely legal usage to a more general usage in many languages, including English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, German

German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
, Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
, etc. In Classical Latin

Classical Latin

Classical Latin is the form of the Latin used by the ancient Rome in what is usually regarded as "classical" Latin literature. Its use spanned the Golden Age of Latin literature—broadly the 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD—possibly extending to the Silver Age—broadly the 1st and 2nd centuries....
the correct form uses the word condicio, but nowadays the phrase is sometimes found to be used with conditio, which has a different meaning in Latin ("foundation"). The phrase is also used in economics, philosophy and medicine.

An example of the term's usage was annotated in H.W. Brand's biography of Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . He was List of governors of Florida of Florida , commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans , and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy....
. The book included a toast given by Jackson on the occasion of his receiving an honorary doctorate from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
. The President responded to his listeners, "E pluribus unum
E pluribus unum

E pluribus unum, Latin for "Out of Many, One," is a motto requested by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere and found in 1776 on the Seal of the United States, along with Annuit c?ptis and Novus ordo seclorum, and adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782....
, my friends. Sine qua non. "A recent example come from Javier Solana

Javier Solana

Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga, Doctor of Philosophy is the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Secretary-General of both the Council of the European Union of the European Union and the Western European Union ....
who said that the arrest of Radovan Karadžic

Radovan Karadžic

Radovan Karad?ic is a former Bosnian Serb politician, poet and psychiatry. He is currently in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen for war crime charges committed against people of Muslim faith, as well as Croats, Bosnians, other non-serbs and non-nationalist Serbs during the siege of Sarajevo, and genocide of 8,000 Muslims in S...
was sine qua non for Serbia joining the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
and "it has been a very important step to move closer to Europe."

It also appears in the commentary on Article 59 of the Fourth Geneva Convention

Fourth Geneva Convention

The Fourth Geneva Convention relates to the protection of civilians during times of war "in the hands" of an enemy and under any military occupation by a foreign power....
on the protection of civilians during a time of war. In this case the sine qua non refers to the assurance that relief aid will go to the civilian population and not be diverted towards "the benefit of the Occupying Power."