La fortiori From stronger; From a stronger argument 4 posteriori From later | a prioré From earlier s a quo From which ab initio From the beginning 4 Aberratio ictus _ Mistake in the blow Actus me invito, non est meus actus ‘An involuntary act is not one’s own act; An act done against one’s will is not such person's act Actus non fasit reum, nisi mens sit rea The act itself does not make a man guilty, unless his intention be 30 actus reus ‘A guilty act cad hoc For this purpose! ‘ad hominem at the person ad infinitum ‘to infinity; forever, without limit [ad titer for the case ad valorem according to value ‘aequitas legem sequitur equity follows the law | affidavir he has sworn alibi elsewhere; at another place. | caliunde from elsewhere; from a different source alter ego ‘anotherl | amicus curiae friend of the court animus intention/intent | animus furandi the intention to steal [animus manendi the intention to femain in one place; the intention to stay | [animus possidendi intention to possess ‘animus revertendi intention to return ante before [arguendo for the sake of argument bona fide in good faith casus fortuitus fortuitous event caveat may he beware; fet him beware (Caveat emptor Let the buyer beware certiorari 10 be apprised, to be informed ceteris paribus all other things being equal ‘conditio sine gua non a conditiof: without which the matier cannot be ‘contra bonos mores against pood morals ‘corpus delicti body of the crime; the body of the offense ‘corpus juris body of law culpa guilt damnian absque injuria damage without legal injury de facto in fact T de jure according to law; of Taw de minimis about the smallest things | ‘De minimis non curat lex ‘The law cares not about mere trifles List of the Most Useful Latin Maxims for Law Students Professor: Ay, Alona Suze B. Ruyeras, CPAde novo [anew; stating afresh a | Delegatus non potest delegare ‘An agent cannot delegate his authority Do ut des Tgive that you may give | Po ut facias Tgive that you may do doli incapax incapable of guilt incapable of wrong _ duces tecum i you Dura Lex Sed Lox The law is harsh but it is the law | ejusdem generis of the same class Erg omnes towards all | ergo therefore erratum having been made in error Error in Personae Mistake of the person; Mistake in the identity of the victim et.al. and others et cetera (et.} and other things; other things of that type (ex aequo et bono ‘of equity and good ex officio by virtue of holding an office ex parte for/from one party ex post facto rom a thing done afterwards; after the fact; in the light oF subsequent events Expressio nius est exclusio alterius | The express mention of one thing causes the exclusion of another extant existing Facio ut des Ido that you may give Facio ut facias Ido that you may do Falsus in uno, falvus in omnibus False in one thing, false in all [fiat Let itbe done. | [ forum non conveniens disagreeable forum functus officio having performed his office [_genus munguem perit Genus never perishes; generic things do not perish [_gravamen things weighingdown ‘Habeas Corpus May you have the body; Vou shall have the body (in court) ‘hostis humani generis ‘enemy of the human race Ignorantia juris non excusat Ignorance of thellaw does not excuse Id est (i.e) that is Ibid In the same place imprimatur Let it be printed, in camera in the chamber, in private. in curia In open court, in esse in existence in flagrante delicto in blazing offense | in limine preliminary; at the outset; on the threshold in loco parencis in the place of alparent in omnibus in al; in every respect in pari delicto in equal offense in pari materia, in the same matter ‘in personam in person; against the person in ia in the matter of | inrem about a thing; against the thin inter alia ‘among others; among ober igs List af the Most Useful Latin Maxims for Law Students Professor: Atty. Alona Surell B. Ruyeras,CPA |ipso facto. by the fact or act itself; in and of itself. ‘ps0 jure the law itself; by operation of law ura (He) swears — [dus Jaw, Fight _ — jus cogens ‘compelling law jus ad bellum Laws to war; Refers to legalities considered before entering into a war, to ensure it|is legal to go to war initially, Not to be confused with jus n bello, the "laws of war" conceming how war is carried out Jus in bello Laws in war/ Laws of war, Laws governing the conduct of parties _ in war | jus sanguinis right of blood | [Jus soli right of soil Justitia nemini neganda est Justice is to be denied to no one Lex prospicit nor: respicit ‘The law looks forward, not backward | Lis mota The cause or motivation of a legal action or lawsuit; The crux of the controversy Tocus standi place of standing ‘malum in se ‘wrong in itself ‘malum prohibitum prohibited wrong __| ‘mandamus ‘we command mens rea guilty mind ‘mobilia sequuntur personam movables follow the person ‘modus operandi ‘manner of operation [mortis causa in contemplation of death mutatis mutanais having changed [the things that] needed to be changed; making ‘such changes or alterations as the sense requires negotiorum gextio management of affairs ‘Nemo dat quod non habet | One cannot give what one does not have nexus connection ‘non compus mentis not of sound mind and understandi ‘non sequitur ‘an inconsistent statement, it does not follow ‘mune pro tunc now for then ‘obiter dictum a thing said in passing; a remark in passing [parens patriae tof the nation [pari passu ‘on equal footing [pendente lite while the litigation is pendi er capita head | nee ae oe the court; in the opinion of the court — [per se ‘by itself. per stirpes bytranch | vpersona non grata ‘unwelcome person [ posse comitatus ‘power of the county. 5 mortem after death | Praeter Intenticnem Beside the intention; Injurious result is greater than that intended Prior tempore potior jure; Qui prior est | earlier in time, stronger in law or right; He who is first in time 1s tempore potior est jure ferred in law [prima facie _[ at first face; at first appearance List of the Most Useful Latin Maxims for Law Students Professor: Atty, Alona Suzell R, Ruyeras, CPAa [pro bono Tor good [ero forma as a matter of form [pro hac vice for this turn; for this occasion 4 [ero rata in proportion | quantum meruit ‘as much as it deserves; as much as she or he has earned quasi As if, almost | Qui facet per alium facit per se He who acts through another, acts through himself [Qui vult decipi, decipiatur Let him be deceived, who wishes to be deceived ratio decidendi reason for the decision; the reason for deciding; a malter that has __. been decided rebus sic stantibus things thus standing res communis ‘common to all_| res gestae things done Res inter alios acta alteri nocere non | A thing done between two persons ought not to injure another debet Res ipsa loquitur “| The thing speaks for itself resjudicaia a matter judged | res nullius nobody's thing respondeat superior Tet the master/principal answer ‘Salus populi est suprema lex ‘The public welfare is the supreme law ‘Semper pro matriomonio praesumitur__| It is always presumed in favor of marriage Sic : So, thus ‘sine qua non __[ without which, nothing situs the place | Solutio indebiti performance of Something not due | ‘stare decisis to stand by [things] decided ‘status quo the state in which sub juice under the judge; in the course of trial [subpoena under penalty ‘subpoena ad testificandum under penalty to be witnessed ‘Subpoena duces tecum bring with you under penalty sui generis of its own kind/genus uberrimae fides ‘most abundant faith Ubi jus ibi remedium Where there is a legal right, there is a remedy Ubi Lex Non Distiguit Nec Nos ‘Where the law dbos not distinguish, courts should not distinguish Distinguere Debemos ultra vires beyond the powers velo forbid. Verba legis non recedendum est ‘The words of the law must not be departed from verbatim Word for word; exactly vice versa. the other way around =| videre licet (viz) itis permitted to see; namely ‘vinculum juris the chain of the law Volenti non fit injuria ‘No wrong is done to one who consents; No injury can be done toa willing person _| “Che ee Pray and List of the Most Useful Latiu Maxims for Law Students Professor: Atty. Alona Suzell B. Ruyeras, CPA