Legal maxims II: Latin and French phrases in daily practice
LUG-105 English and Legal Language, Unit IV: Legal maxims. · LLB · 60 min
The forty-odd Latin and Law-French phrases a lawyer reads and writes every day: mens rea and actus reus, bona fide and prima facie, suo motu and ex parte, ratio and obiter, locus standi and in forma pauperis, the five writs, ultra vires, estoppel and the rest. Each is given its meaning, origin, the Indian provision or case where it lives, and a sentence; mens rea and due diligence, which the papers have asked at length, get a slide each.
Objectives
- Explain the meaning and origin of each phrase in this lecture and use it correctly in a sentence.
- Define mens rea and explain its significance in criminal law, with the forms it takes in the BNS.
- Explain due diligence as a standard of care and as a process, and its relevance in practice.
- Distinguish the pairs: bona fide / mala fide, ratio / obiter, de facto / de jure, ultra vires / intra vires, in personam / in rem.
- Name the five writs and the situation each meets.
Slides
- Phrases, not rules: the Latin a lawyer reads every day
- Mens rea and actus reus: the two halves of a crime
- Good faith and first sight: bona fide, mala fide, prima facie, uberrimae fidei, due diligence
- How the court acts and sits: suo motu, ex parte, in camera, sine die, status quo, ex gratia, waiver
- Precedent: ratio decidendi, obiter dicta, stare decisis, sub judice, en banc
- Standing and access: locus standi, in forma pauperis, amicus curiae
- The five writs: habeas corpus, mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto
- Validity and effect: ab initio, ultra vires, de facto, ipso facto, per se, inter alia, pari passu, quid pro quo, sui generis
- Property, evidence, procedure: lis pendens, in personam and in rem, estoppel, voir dire, res ipsa loquitur
- Revision table: forty phrases in one page
- How the examiner asks it
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