Legal Maxims

Latin maxims and legal terms with what they mean.

• Nunc pro tunc — Now for then. An action or ruling that applies retroactively to correct an earlier record or proceeding.
• Obiter dictum — A judge's incidental remark in a judgment that is not essential to the decision and therefore lacks binding precedential authority.
• Onus probandi — Burden of proof; the obligation of a party to provide evidence to prove their claim.
• Pacta Sunt Servanda — Agreements lawfully entered into must be honoured and are legally binding upon the parties.
• Palimony — Money paid to a person with whom one has been living in a domestic partnership after the relationship ends.
• Pari passu — Equally and without preference; claimants share rateably in proportion to their entitlements.
• Particeps criminis — A person who is a participant in a crime; an accomplice or partner in the commission of an offense.
• Per curiam — By the court; a decision delivered by the court as a whole rather than by a specific judge.
• Per incuriam — A judgment rendered in ignorance of a binding statute or precedent, and therefore lacking precedential authority.
• Per se — By itself or intrinsically, denoting a matter actionable without need of extrinsic proof.
• Persona non grata — A person declared unacceptable, especially a foreign diplomat whom the host State refuses to receive or orders to leave.
• Precedent — A previous judicial decision or legal ruling that serves as a guide or justification for deciding subsequent cases with similar facts or legal issues.
• Prima facie — At first sight or on the face of it; sufficient to establish a fact unless rebutted.
• Quantum meruit — A claim for reasonable remuneration for work done or services rendered when no fixed price was agreed in the contract.
• Quid pro quo — The exchange of something of value for another, representing the essential element of consideration required to make a contract legally binding.
• Qui facit per alium, facit per se — He who acts through another is deemed in law to do it himself, serving as the fundamental legal basis for vicarious liability in the law of agency.
• Qui peccat ebrius luat sobrius — Voluntary intoxication is no defence; one who commits an offence while drunk must bear the punishment when sober.
• Qui sentit commodum, sentire debet et onus — He who receives the advantage must also bear the burden.
• Quod necessitas non habet legem — Necessity knows no law.
• Quo warranto — A prerogative writ issued by the court to inquire by what authority a person holds a public office, and to oust them if the claim is unfounded.
• Ratio decidendi — The legal principle or rule essential to a court's decision, which binds future cases under the doctrine of precedent.
• Res ipsa loquitur — A tort doctrine permitting an inference of the defendant's negligence from the mere occurrence of an accident which ordinarily does not happen without negligence.
• Res Judicata — A legal principle that prevents a matter already adjudicated by a competent court from being litigated again between the same parties.
• Res Judicata Pro Veritate Accipitur — A judicial decision must be accepted as the truth.
• Respondeat superior — Doctrine holding an employer vicariously liable for tortious acts committed by an employee within the scope of employment.
• Rex non potest peccare — A common-law maxim declaring that the sovereign is legally incapable of wrongdoing and therefore enjoys immunity from suit or prosecution.
• Salus populi est suprema lex — The welfare of the people is the supreme law.
• Sine die — With no day; indefinitely adjourned without a future date being fixed for the next meeting.
• Sine qua non — An essential condition; something absolutely necessary.
• Sovereignty — The supreme and independent authority of a state to govern itself without external interference.
• Status quo — The existing state of affairs that a court orders to be preserved pending final adjudication.
• Suo Motu — On its own motion; an action taken by a court or authority on its own initiative without a formal petition from a party.
• Uberrima fides — A doctrine requiring parties to a contract, especially insurance, to disclose all material facts in utmost good faith.
• Ubi jus ibi remedium — Where a legal right exists, the law must provide a remedy for its violation.
• Veto — Constitutional power of an authority to reject or block a proposed law from taking effect.
• Vice versa — With the order of the items reversed; conversely.
• Vis major — A superior force or act of God that excuses contractual or tortious liability when performance is rendered impossible by an unforeseeable natural event.
• Volenti non fit injuria — A person who voluntarily consents to a known risk cannot claim damages for the resulting harm.
• Vox populi — Voice of the people; opinion of the majority.
• Waiver — The voluntary and intentional relinquishment of a known legal right, claim, or privilege.