Latin Legal Maxims

Accusare nemo se debet, nisi caram

Deo (No one is compelled to accuse
himself, except before God)
Audi alteram partem (Hear the other
side)

Domus sua cique est tutissimun

refugium (To everyone, his house is his
surest refuge)
Non bis in idem (No one shall be
punished for the same offense)
Latin Legal Maxims
Accessorium sequitur naturam sui
principalis (The accessory follows the
nature of its prinicpal)
Aedificium solo credit (The building
yields to the land)
Boni judicis est lites dirimere (it is
the duty of good justice to prevent
litigation)
Caveat emptor (buyer beware)
Ex pacto illicito non oritur action (No
action arises out of illicit bargain)
Facta legem facunt inter partes
(Stipulations have the force of law
between parties
Finita voluntate, finitum est
mandatum (Upon the termination of
the will, the agency is terminated)
Genus nunquam peruit (Generic
things do not persish)
Homo est et qui est futurus (he is
already a man who will become a man)
Ignorantia legis neminem excusat
(ignorance of the law does not excuse)
In pare delicto potior est conditio
defendatis (where both parties are at
fault, the condition of the defendant is
better)
Leges posteriores priores contrarias
abrogant (later statutes repeal prior
ones which are repugnant thereto)
Legis interpretation legis vim

1987 Philippine Constitution

Art III, Sec 17. Right against selfincrimination
Art III, Sec 14(2). The accused...shall
enjoy the right to be heard by himself
and
counsel...to
have
a
speedy,
impartial, and public trial
Art
III,
Sec
2.
Right
against
unreasonable arrest, search, and seizure
Art III Sec 21. Right against double
jeopardy
New Civil Code
Art. 466

Art. 445
Art. 2029

Art. 1563
Art. 1352
Art. 1159

Art. 1920

Art. 1263
Art. 40
Art. 3
Art. 1192

Art. 7

Art. 8

obtinet (judicial interpretation of a

statute acquires the force of law)
Les non cogit ad impossibilia (The
law does not require the impossible)
Nel consensui tam contrarium est
quam vis atqui meus (there can be no
consent under force or duress)
Non consentit qui errat (the who errs
does not consent)
Nemo dat quod non habet (No one
can transfer a greater right to another
than one has)
Optimus intrepres rerum usus (the
best interpreter of the law is usage)
Pacta sunt servanda (stipulations of
parties must be complied with in good
faith)
Partus sequitur ventrem (Offspring
follow the mother)
Proximus sum egomet mihi (Charity
begins at home)
Prius in tempore, potior in jure (first
in time, first in right)
Privatum incommodum publico bono
pensatur (the private interests of the
individual must give way to the
accommodation of the public)
Qui approvat non reprobate (he who
approves or ratifies cannot repudiate)
Quod ab initio non valet in tractu
temporis non convalescit (that which
was originally void, does not by lapse of
time become valid)
Qui prius jus suum insina verit
praeferetur (he is preferred whose
right has just been recorded)
Sic utero tuo ut alienum non laedas
(use of your property as not to injure the
rights of others)
Ubi jus, ibi remedium (Where there is
a right, there is a remedy for violation
thereof)
Vigilantibus et non dormientibus
jura subveniunt (the law aids the

Art. 1384
Art. 1330

Art. 1505

Art. 1376
Art. 1315

Art. 442
Art. 294
Art. 1544
Art. 435

Art. 1392
Art. 1409

Art. 1544

Art. 431

Art. 32

Art. 1106

vigilant, not those who slumber on their

rights)
Latin Legal Maxims
Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit
rea (the act does not make a person
guilty unless the mind is also guilty)
Arma in armatos jura sinunt (the law
permits taking arms against armed
persons)
Favorabilia sunt amplianda, odiosa
restringenda (penal laws which are
favorable to the accused are given
retroactive effect)
Furiosus solo furore punitur ( a mad
man is punished only by his madness)
Actus invitus, non est meus actus.
(an involuntary act is not one's act)
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine
lege (There is no crime where there is
no law punishing it)
Sociis fit culpae qui nocentum
sublevat (he who helps the guilty
shares the crime)
Latin Legal Maxims
Cujus juris erit accessorium (he who
has jurisdiction of the principal thing has
jurisdiction of the accessory also)
Res judicata inter pates jus facit (a
question adjudicated between parties
after hearing them makes the law of
that question)

Revised Penal Code

Art. 12. Circumstances which exempt
from criminal liability - performing a
lawful act cause injury by mere accident
Art. 11. Justifying circumstances

Art. 22. Retroactive effect of penal laws

Art. 12. Circumstances which exempt

from criminal liability - Imbecile or
Insane; under the compulsion of
irresistible force
Art. 3. Acts and omissions punishable
by law are felonies
Art. 16. Who are criminally liable

1997 Rules of Civil Procedure

Rule 6, Sec 7. Compulsory
counterclaim
Rule 39, Sec 47. Effect of judgments or
final order

Stare decisis et non quieta movere

(follow past precedents and do not
disturb what has been settled)
De similibus idem est judicium
(concerning similars, the judgment is the
same)
Latin Legal Maxims
Ei incumbit probation qui dicit, non
qui negat (he who assertsm not he who
denies must prove)
Non allegata non probate (that which

Revised Rules on Evidence

Rule 131, Sec 1. Burden of proof

Rule 132, Sec 34. Offer of evidence

is not alleged cannot be proved)

Qui tace consentire videtur (silence
means consent)
Res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for
itself)
Semper praesumitur pro
matrimonio (always presume marriage)
Ut res magis valeat quam pereat.
(the law should be interpreted to uphold
than to destroy it)
Latin Legal Maxims
Judex non potest injhuriam sibi
datam punier (a judge cannot punish
an injury to himself)

Rule 130, Sec 32. Admission by silence

Rule 130, Sec 1. Objects as evidence
Rule 131, Sec 3. Disputable
presumptions
Rule 130, Sec 11. Instrument
construed so as to give effect to all
provisions
Legal Ethics
Rule 137, Sec 1. Disqualification of
judges