pro deoadv.adj.
/(ˌ)prəʊ ˈdeɪəʊ/, U.S. /ˌproʊ ˈdeɪoʊ/, South African English /(ˌ)prəʊ ˈdeɪəʊ/ Originally and chiefly South African Law.
A. adv.
With reference to the legal representation of a person accused of a capital offence and unable to afford counsel: with no charge, legal costs being paid by the state at the instruction of the court. Also more generally: free of charge, for the public good; without the usual fee. Cf. pro bono adv.
ΚΠ
1819 Crown Trial 15 In case the Accused is in a state of Insolvency,..the Court..shall appoint the necessary Practitioners to assist him pro Deo.
1922 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 15 Apr. 618/1 M. [Émile] Coué is a humanitarian philanthropist and works pro Deo.
1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country 123 Did you not hear him say he would take the case pro deo?
2008 Sunday Independent (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 15 June (E1 ed.) 17 The narrator,..a senior advocate from Durban, is appointed to take on Labuschagne's defence pro deo.
B. adj.
Of or relating to a system in which the state pays the legal costs of a person accused of a capital offence and unable to afford counsel. Also more generally: provided or done free of charge, for the public good. Cf. pro bono adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > charges > freedom from charge > [adjective]
shot-freelOE
freea1225
costless1509
scot-free1542
free cost1586
chargeless1599
cost-free1602
gratuitous1656
gratis1659
pro deo1856
comp1875
tariffless1891
uncharged1894
buckshee1915
freebie1937
mahala1977
value-added1982
1856 Ordinance to provide Amended Manner of Proceeding, 1855 in Laws Brit. Guiana (1873) II. 451 The instituting and conducting and defending of all Pro Deo suits and defences.
1920 S. Afr. Med. Rec. 24 July 280/2 I would like to know what other profession does pro deo work for the State to the extent that the medical profession does.
1989 Eastern Province Herald (Port Elizabeth) 8 June 3 A murder trial was postponed for the third time this week yesterday when it was found that there was no pro Deo counsel available in Port Elizabeth or Grahamstown.
2018 Sunday Independent (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 16 Sept. 17 Victims of violence were treated on a pro-deo basis.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.adj.1819