Sequestration

Sequestration is the act of sequestering, or setting apart, isolating, or confiscating assets, people, or information. The term arises in legal, political, scientific, and medical contexts, and its precise meaning depends on jurisdiction and field. Common threads include removal from ordinary processes and temporary control by a third party.

In law, sequestration is a court-ordered seizure and custody of property to preserve it during litigation. It can also refer to insolvency procedures in some jurisdictions, notably Scotland, where sequestration corresponds to a form of bankruptcy; a trustee or keeper administers the estate until resolution.

Jury sequestration is the isolation of jurors from the outside world to prevent influence during a trial.

In environmental policy, carbon sequestration describes processes that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in forests, soils, oceans, or geological formations. Methods include afforestation and reforestation, soil carbon management, and geological sequestration in depleted reservoirs or saline aquifers. Each aims to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels and mitigate climate change.

In medicine, sequestration can refer to an area of tissue that has become isolated from normal circulation; for example, pulmonary sequestration is a congenital condition in which a lung segment is nonfunctional and receives systemic blood supply. The term also appears in reference to isolated deposits of materials or pathogens, depending on the context.