1 Absoluta sententia expositore non indiget - Plain words require no explaination 2 Actio personalis moritur cum persona - A personal

right of action dies with the person 3 Actore non probante absolvitur reus - When the plaintiff does not prove his case the defendant is acquitted 4 Aedificare in tuo proprio solo non licet quod alteri noceat - It is not permitted to build upon one's own land what may be injurious to another 5 Aedificatum solo, solo cedit - That which is built upon land becomes part of the land 6 Aequitas sequitur legem - Equity follows the law 7 Affirmanti non neganti incumbit probatio - The burden of proof lies upon him who affirms, not upon him who denies 8 Aliud est celare, aliud tacere - To conceal is one thing, to be silent another 9 Allegans contraria non est audiendus - He who alleges contradictory things is not to be heard 10 Ambulatoria est voluntas defuncti usque ad vitae supremum exitum The will of a deceased person is ambulatory (changeable) until the last moment of life Assensio mentium - The meeting of minds - mutual consent Audi alteram partem - Hear the other side Caveat emptor; qui ignorare non debit quod jus alienum emit - Let a purchaser beware; no one ought in ignorance to buy that which is the right of another Cujus est solum ejus usque ad coelum, et ad inferos - Whosoever has the soil, also owns to the heavens above and to the center beneath Delegatus non potest delegare - A delegate cannot delegate Designatio unius est exclusio alterius, est expressum facit cessare tacitum - The naming of one is the exclusion of another, and that which is expressed makes that implied to cease Ex nudo pacto non oritur actio - From a bare contract - i.e. a contract without consideration - an action does not arise Fatetur facinus qui judicium fugit - He who flees judgment confesses his guilt 19 20 Fiat justitia, ruat coelum - Let right be done, though the heavens fall Fictio cedit veritati: fictio juris non est ubi veritas Fiction yields to truth: where there is truth, fiction of law does not exist

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Firmior et potentior est operatio legis quam dispositio hominis - The operation of the law is firmer and more powerful than the will of man

Thus an agreement entered into between two persons cannot, in general, affect the rights of a third party; so, if it be agreed between A and B that B shall discharge a debt due from A to C, such an agreement cannot prevent C from suing A for its recovery 22 23 24 25 26 Fortior est custodia legis quam hominis - The custody of the law is stronger than that of man Fortior et potentior est dispositio legis quam hominis The will of the law is more resolute and more powerful than that of man Fractionem diei non recipit lex The law does not regard a fraction of a day Fraus est celare fraudem It is fraud to conceal fraud Generale dictum generaliter est interpretandum: generalia verba sunt generaliter intelligenda A general saying is to be interpreted generally: general words are to be understood generally Haereditas, alia corporalis, alia incorporalis: corporalis est, quae tangi potest et videri; incorporalis quae tangi non potest nec videri - Inheritance, some corporeal, others incorporeal: corporeal is that which can be touched and seen; incorporeal, that which can neither be touched nor seen Haereditas nunquam ascendit - Inheritance never ascends Haeres est nomen collectivum Heir is a collective name Idem semper antecedenti proximo refertur - "The same" is always referred to its next antecedent Ignorantia eorum quae quis scire tenetur non excusat Ignorance of those things which everyone is bound to know, excuses not Ignorantia facti excusat; ignorantia juris non excusat - Ignorance of fact excuses; ignorance of law does not excuse

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The word jus in this Maxim means the settled general law of the Country 33 34 Ignorantia judicis est calamitas innocentis - The ignorance of a judge is the misfortune of the innocent Impossibilium nulla obligatio est There is no obligation to do impossible things

Where the consideration for a promise is such that its performance is naturally impossible, such consideration is insufficient, for no benefit can be conferred on the promissor 35 In consimili casu, consimile debet sese remedium - In similar cases the remedy should be similar

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In consuetudinibus non diuturnitas temporis sed soliditas rationis est consideranda In customs, not the length of time but the strength of the reason should be considered In contractibus, benigna; in testamentis, benignior; in restitutionibus, benignissima interpretatio facienda est - In contracts, the interpretation is to be liberal; in wills, more liberal; in restitutions, most liberal In contractibus tacite insunt quae sunt moris et consuetudinis - In contracts, those things which are of usage and custom are considered as incorporated. Index animi sermo est - Speech is an indication of thought In generalibus latet error Error lurks in general expressions Injuria non excusat injuriam - One wrong does not justify another Interest reipublicae suprema hominum testamenta rata haberi - It concerns the State closely that mens last wills be confirmed Interest reipublicae ut quilibet re sua bene utatur It is to the advantage of the State that everyone uses his property properly Interest reipublicae ut sit finis litium - It concerns the State that lawsuits be not protracted

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The doctrine of limitation of actions may be referred to this maxim. Likewise the rules that new trials should not lightly be ordered and that a court is bound by its own decisions 45 Interpretatio chartarum benigne facienda est ut res magis valeat quam pereat The construction of a deed is to be made liberally, that the thing may rather avail than perish Judex est lex loquens - A judge is the law speaking Judiciis posterioribus fides est adhibenda - Credit is to be given to the latest decisions Judicis est jus dicere, non dare It is for the judge to administer, not to make, law Judicis officium est opus diei in die suo perficere - It is the duty of a judge to finish the work of each day within that day Lex non curat de minimis - The law cares not about trifles Locus regit actum The act is governed by the law of the place where it is done Longa possessio parit jus possidendi et tollit actionem vero domino Long possession produces the right of possession, and takes away the right of action from the true owner

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Mala grammatica non vitiate chartam. Sed in expositione instrumentorem mala grammatica quoad fieri posit evitanda est - Bad grammar does not vitiate a deed. But in the interpretation of instruments, bad grammar, so far as it can be done, is to be avoided

False English does not make a deed void when its meaning is apparent. Where, however, a proviso in a lease was altogether ungrammatical and insensible, the Court declared that they did not consider themselves bound to find out a meaning for it 54 Meliorem conditionem facere potest minor, deteriorem nequaquam A minor can make his condition better, but by no means worse

The Courts will see to it generally that the condition of a minor is not made worse by his own acts of improvidence. He may, if imposed upon, avoid any contract not for necessaries 55 56 Minatur innocentibus, qui parcit nocentibus - He threatens the innocent who spares the guilty Nemo dat quod non habet - No one gives what he does not possess

A person cannot assign a greater interest in a thing than he himself possesses. Exceptions include sales of goods in market overt, sales of land by mortgagees and cases where the true owner is estopped from denying the vendors right to sell 57 58 59 60 Nemo debet locupletari aliena jactura No one should be enriched by anothers loss Nemo plus juris ad alium transferre potest quam ipse habet No one can transfer to another a greater right than he has himself Nemo potest facere per alium, quod per se non potest - No one can do through another what he cannot do himself Non debeo melioris conditions esse, quam auctor meus, a quo jus in me transit I ought not to be in a better position than my assignor, from whom the right passes to me Non in tabulis est jus The law is not in the books Non omnium quae a majoribus nostris constituta sunt ratio reddi potest - A reason cannot be given for all laws that have been established by our ancestors Non videntur qui errant consentire They do not appear to consent who make a mistake

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Equity will relieve where an act has been done, or contract made, under a mistake, or ignorance of a material fact 64 Noscitur a sociis - It is known by its associates

It is a rule that the coupling of words together shows that they are to be understood in

the same sense. And where the meaning of a particular word is doubtful or obscure, or where a particular expression when taken singly is inoperative, the intention of a party who used it may frequently be ascertained by looking at adjoining words, or at expressions occurring in other parts of the same instrument. One provision of an instrument must be construed by the bearing it will have upon another 65 66 Novatio non prasumitur A novation is not presumed Nullus commodum capere potest de injuria sua propria No one can take advantage of his own wrong

Thus, A shall not have an action of trespass against B, who lawfully enters to abate a nuisance caused by As wrongful act; nor shall an executor de son tort obtain that assistance which the law affords to a rightful executor. So if A, on whose goods a distress has been levied, by his own misconduct prevent the distress from being realized, A cannot complain of a second distress as unlawful. So if a man be bound to appear on a certain day, and before that day the obligee put him in prison, the bond is void. The maximum applies also to that extensive class of cases where fraud has been committed by one party to a transaction, and is relied upon as a defence by the other 67 68 69 70 Nunquam res humanae prospere succedunt ubi negliguntur divinae Human things never prosper where divine things are neglected Omne quod solo inaedificatur solo cedit Everything which is built upon the soil passes with the soil Omne testamentum morte consumatum est - Every will is completed by death Omnis ratihabitio retrotrahitur et mandato priori aequiparatur Every ratification of an act already done has a retrospective effect, and is equal to a previous request to do it

If an action is brought in a persons name and for his benefit, but without his knowledge, his subsequent ratification of the proceedings in the action renders them as much his own as if he had originally authorized them. As a general proposition, the subsequent assent by the principal to his agents conduct not only exonerates the agent from the consequences of a departure from his orders, but likewise renders the principal liable on contracts made in violation of such orders, or even where there has been no previous retainer or employment 71 72 73 74 Pacta dant legem contractui Agreements constitute the law of the contract Periculum rei venditae, nondum traditae, est emptoris The risk of a thing sold, and not yet delivered, is the purchasers Plus valet unus oculatus testis quam auriti decem - One eye-witness is better than ten ear-witnesses Qui facit per alium facit per se He who does anything by another does it by himself

This maxim enunciates the general doctrine on which the law relative to the rights and liabilities of principal and agent depends. Where B employs A to buy goods for him,

B is liable in an action for the amount. If a servant does what his master ought to do, it is the same as though the master did it himself; and if a servant does any such thing without the consent of the master, yet if the master subsequently ratify the act of the servant it is sufficient. The maxim applies to everything done by the agent in the ostensible scope of his authority. It does not apply to the acts of the agent of an agent 75 76 77 78 Qui non habet potestatem alienandi habet necessitatem retinendi He who has no power of alienation must retain Qui tacet consentire videtur - He who is silent appears to consent Quod dubitas, ne feceris - Where you doubt, do nothing. Ratihabitio mandato comparatur Ratification is equivalent to a command.

"Ratihabitio" here means "the act of assenting to what has been done by another in my name." 79 Regula est, juris quidem ignorantiam cuique nocere, facti vero ignorantiam non nocere - It is the rule, that everyone is prejudiced by his ignorance of law, but is not prejudiced by his ignorance of a material fact Reprobata pecunia liberat solventem - Money refused frees the debtor Res judicata pro veritate accipitur A thing adjudicated is received as true Res perit suo domino The loss falls on the owner

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Where loss, damage, or delay of goods in transit arises from the act of God, the loss falls upon the owner and not upon the carrier 83 Si quidem in nomine, cognomine, praenomine, legatarii testator erraverit, cum de persona constat, nihilominus valet legatum - Though a testator may have made a mistake in the proper name or in the surname of the legatee, when it is certain who is the person meant, the legacy is nevertheless valid Solvitur in modo solventis - A payment is made in the way the payer intends Ubi jus ibi remedium Where there is a right, there is a remedy

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Jus signifies here the legal authority to do or to demand something; and remedium may be defined to be the right of action, or the means given by law, for the recovery of assertion of a right. A man who has a right to vote at an election for Members of Parliament may maintain an action against the returning officer for maliciously refusing to admit his vote, though his right was never determined in Parliament, and though the persons for whom he offered to vote were elected; if men will multiply injuries, actions must be multiplied too, for every man that is injured ought to have his recompense 86 Voluntas testatoris est ambulatoria usque ad extremum vitae exitumThe will of a testator is ambulatory [changeable] until death