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LEGAL MAXIMS AND PHRASES WITH

EASY MEANING
A compilation of important legal maxims and
foreign words to assist you in attaining a tight
grasp over the aspects of Legal Aptitude.
Legal maxims (mostly Latin word or words) are
established principles of law which are universally
admitted and people in legal field are very well
aware of these words (called legal maxims).
Just like in Geometry we have axioms, in Law we
have Legal Maxims.
Axioms mean accepted truth or general truth or
statement which is regarded as being established
and accepted.

Here are 118 important legal maxims for CLAT,

Judiciary and other law exams with their easy
meanings:
1. Ab Initio - From the beginning.
2. Actionable per se - The very act is punishable
and no proof of damage is required.
3. Actio personalis moritur cum persona - A
personal right of action dies with the person. In
other sense if he dies the right to sue is gone.
4. Actori incumbit onus probandi - The burden of
proof is on the plaintiff.
5. Actus Reus Non Facit Reum Nisi Mens Sit Rea
- Conviction of a crime requires proof of a criminal
act and intent. or an act does not make a defendant
guilty without a guilty mind. or an act does not
constitute guilt unless done with a guilty intention.
6. Ad hoc - For the particular end or case at hand.
7. Alibi - At another place, elsewhere.
8. Amicus Curiae - A friend of court or member of
the Bar who is appointed to assist the Court.
9. Ante Litem Motam - Before suit brought; before
controversy instituted OR spoken before a lawsuit
is brought.
10. Assentio mentium - The meeting of minds, i.e
mutual assents.
11. Audi alteram partem - No man shall be
condemned unheard.
12. Bona fide - In good faith.
13. Bona vacantia - Goods without an owner.
14. Boni judicis est ampliare jurisdictionem - It is
the part of a good judge to enlarge his jurisdiction,
i.e. remedial authority.
15. Caveat - A caution registered with the public
court to indicate to the officials that they are not to
act in the matter mentioned in the caveat without
first giving notice to the caveator.
16. Caveat actor - Let the doer beware.
17. Caveat emptor - Let the buyer beware.
18. Caveat venditor -Let the seller beware.
19. Certiorari - A writ by which orders passed by
an inferior court is quashed.
20. Corpus - Body.
21. Corpus delicti - The facts and circumstances
constituting a crime and Concrete evidence of a
crime, such as a corpse (dead body).
Also,
It refers to the principle that 'a crime must be
proved to have occurred before a person can be
convicted of committing that crime.' (This
definition is mostly used in Western Law.)
22. Damnum sine injuria - Damage without injury.
23. De facto - In fact.
24. De jure - By law.
25. De minimis - About minimal things.
26. De Minimis Non Curat Lex - The law does not
govern trifles (unimportant things) or law ignores
insignificant details.
or
A common law principle whereby judges will not
sit in judgment of extremely minor transgressions
(offence, wrongdoings) of the law.
27. De novo - To make something anew.
28. Dictum - Statement of law made by judge in the
course of the decision but not necessary to the
decision itself.
29. Doli incapax - Incapable of crime.
30. Detinue - Tort of wrongfully holding goods
which belong to someone else.
31. Donatio mortis causa - Gift because of death.
(or a future gift given in expectation of the donor's
imminent death and only delivered upon the donor's
death.)
32. Estoppel - Prevented from denying.
33. Ex gratia - As a favour.
34. Ex officio - Because of an office held.
35. Ex parte - Proceedings in the absence of the
other party.
36. Ex post facto - Out of the aftermath. or After
the fact.
According to Wikipedia,
It is a law that retroactively changes the legal
consequences (or status) of actions that were
committed, or relationships that existed, before the
enactment of the law.
In criminal law, it may criminalise actions that
were legal when committed; it may aggravate a
crime by bringing it into a more severe category
than it was in when it was committed; it may
change the punishment prescribed for a crime, as
by adding new penalties or extending sentences; or
it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make
conviction for a crime likelier than it would have
been when the deed was committed.
37. Fatum - Beyond human foresight.
38. Factum probans - Relevant fact.
39. Fraus est celare fraudem - It is a fraud to
conceal a fraud.
40. Functus officio - No longer having power or
jurisdiction.
41. Furiosi nulla voluntas est - Mentally impaired
or mentally incapable persons cannot validly sign a
will, contract or form the frame of mind necessary
to commit a crime. or a person with mental illness
has no free will.
42. Habeas corpus - A writ to have the body of a
person to be brought in before the judge.
43. Ignorantia juris non excusat - Ignorance of
the law excuses not or Ignorance of law excuses no
one.
In other words,
A person who is unaware of a law may not escape
liability for violating that law merely because one
was unaware of its content.
44. Injuria sine damno - Injury without damage.
45. Ipso facto - By the mere fact.
46. In promptu - In readiness.
47. In lieu of - Instead of.
48. In personam - A proceeding in which relief I
sought against a specific person.
49. Innuendo - Spoken words which are
defamatory because they have a double meaning.
50. In status quo - In the present state.
51. Inter alia - Among other things.
52. Inter vivos - (especially of a gift as opposed to
a legacy) between living people.
53. Interest Reipublicae Ut Sit Finis Litium - It
means it is in the interest of the state that there
should be an end to litigation.
54. Jus cogens (or ius cogens) - Compelling law.
55. Jus in personam - Right against a specific
person.
56. Jus in rem - Right against the world at large.
57. Jus naturale - Natural law.
Or in other words,
A system of law based on fundamental ideas of
right and wrong that is Natural Law.
58. Jus non scriptum - Customary law.
59. Jus scriptum - Written law.
60. Jus - Law or right.
61. Justitia nemini neganda est - Justice is to be
denied to nobody.
62. Lex non a rege est violanda - The law must not
be violated even by the king.
63. Locus standi - Right of a party to an action to
appear and be heard by the court and be heard by
the court.
64. Mala fide - In bad faith.
65. Malum in se or Mala in se (plural) -
Wrong or evil in itself.
or
Mala in se is 'A term that signifies crime that is
considered wrong in and of itself.'
For Example,
Most human beings believe that murder, rape, and
theft are wrong, regardless of whether a law
governs such conduct or where the conduct occurs,
and is thus recognizably malum in se.
66. Malum prohibitum - In a way opposite of
Malum in se.
It means 'Crimes are criminal not because they are
inherently bad, but because the act is prohibited by
the law of the state.'
For example,
Jurisdiction in India require drivers to drive on the
left side of the road. This is not because driving on
the right side of a road is considered immoral, but
because law says to drive on the left side and not on
right side.
67. Mandamus - 'We command'. A writ of
command issued by a Higher Court to Government/
Public Authority, to compel the performance of a
public duty.
68. Mens rea - Guilty mind.
69. Misnomer - A wrong or inaccurate name or
term.
70. Modus operandi - Way of working.
71. Modus Vivendi - Way of living.
72. Mutatis Mutandis - with the necessary changes
having been made OR with the respective
differences having been considered.
73. Nemo bis punitur pro eodem delicto - Nobody
can be twice punished for the same offence.
74. Nemo debet bis vexari pro una et eadem
causa - It means no man shall be punished twice for
the same offence.
75. Nemo debet esse judex in propria causa or
Nemo judex in causa sua or Nemo judex in sua
causa - Nobody can be judge in his own case.
76. Nemo moriturus praesumitur mentire - A
man will not meet his maker (God) with a lie in his
mouth or in other words 'No man at the point of
death is presumed to lie.' (This maxim is related to
DYING DECLARATION)
77. Nemo Potest esse tenens et dominus - No
body can be both a landlord and a tenant of the
same property.
78. Nolle prosequi - A formal notice of
abandonment by a plaintiff or prosecutor of all or
part of a suit.
79. Novation - Transaction in which a new contact
is agreed by all parties to replace an existing
contract.
80. Nunc pro tunc - Now for then. A ruling nunc
pro tunc applies retroactively to correct an earlier
ruling.
81. Non Sequitur - A statement (such as a
response) that does not follow logically from or is
not clearly related to anything previously said.
Source: Merriam Webster Dictionary.
82. Obiter dictum - Things said by the way. It is
generally used in law to refer to an opinion or non-
necessary remark made by a judge. It does not act
as a precedent.
In other words,
Obiter dictum means “that which is said in
passing,” an incidental statement. Specifically, in
law, it refers to a passage in a judicial opinion
which is not necessary for the decision of the case
before the court. Such statements lack the force of
precedent but may nevertheless be significant.
Source: Britannica
83. Onus probandi - Burden of proof.
84. Pacta Sunt Servanda - Agreements must be
kept. or Agreements are legally binding.
In International Agreements it means 'every treaty
in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be
performed by them in good faith.'
85. Pari passu - With an equal step. Read more
about it on Wikipedia.
86. Particeps criminis - A participator in the actual
crime / partner in crime.
87. Per curiam (decision or opinion) - By the court.
In other words,
The decision is made by the court (or at least, a
majority of the court) acting collectively.
88. Per se - By itself.
89. Persona non grata - A person who is
unacceptable or unwelcome.
Opposite of persona non grata is persona grata.
Also,
In diplomacy, a persona non grata is a foreign
person whose entering or remaining in a particular
country is prohibited by that country's government.
90. Prima facie - At first sight.
91. Alimony - a husband's (or wife's) provision for
a spouse after separation or divorce; maintenance.
Palimony - Money which a man pays to a woman
with whom he has been living and from whom he is
separated. Palimony has slightly different meanings
in different jurisdictions.
92. Per curiam - By a court.
93. Per incuriam - Because of lack of care.
94. Prima facie - On the face of it.
95. Quantum meruit - What one has earned.
or The amount he deserves.
In other words,
A reasonable sum of money to be paid for services
rendered or work done when the amount due is not
stipulated (specified, written down) in a legally
enforceable contract.
Source: Oxford
96. Qui facit per alium, facit per se - He who acts
through another acts himself.
In simple words,
It is a fundamental legal maxim of the law of
agency. It is a maxim often stated in discussing the
liability of employer for the act of employee in
terms of vicarious (indirect, secondhand)
liability.
97. Quid pro quo - Something for something.
98. Qui sentit commodum, sentire debet et onus -
 It means he who receives advantage must also bear
the burden.
99. Quo warranto - By what authority. A writ
calling upon one to show under what authority he
holds or claims a public office.
100. Ratio decidendi - Principle or reason
underlying a court judgement. or The rule of law on
which a judicial decision is based.
101. Respondeat superior - Let the master answer.
For example,
There are circumstances when an employer is liable
for acts of employees performed within the course
of their employment. This rule is also called the
master-servant rule.
102. Res ipsa loquitor - The thing speaks for itself.
103. Res Judicata - A matter already judged.
Here is a short easy to understand law note on Res
Judicata.
104. Res Judicata Pro Veritate Accipitur - It
means that a judicial decision must be accepted as
correct.
105. Rex non protest peccare - The king can do no
wrong.
106. Salus populi est suprema lex - The welfare of
the is the supreme law.
107. Status quo - State of things as they are now.
108. Sine die - With no day (indefinitely).
109. Sine qua non - "without which nothing". An
essential condition; a thing that is absolutely
necessary. Basically a component of an argument
that, if debunked, causes the entire argument to
crumble.
110. Suo Motu - On its own motion.
111. Uberrima fides (sometimes uberrimae fidei) -
Utmost good faith.
112. Ubi jus ibi remedium - Where there is a right,
there is a remedy.
113. Veto - Ban or order not to allow something to
become law, even if it has been passed by a
parliament.
114. Vice versa - Reverse position.
115. Vis major - Act of God.
116. Volenti non fit injuria - Damage suffered by
consent gives no cause of action.
or in other words,
If someone willingly places himself in a position
where he knows that harm might result, then he is
not able (allowed) to bring a claim against the other
party in tort or delict (a violation of law).
117. Vox populi - Voice of the people. or The
opinion of the majority of the people.
118. Waiver - Voluntarily giving up or removing
the conditions.

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