Agree, Agreement
- 5b. An agreement induced by fraud cannot stand. Dig. 2, 14, 7, s. 9.
- 5c. Those things which are impossible to be given, or which are not in the nature of things, are regarded as no part of an agreement. Dig. 50, 17, 135.
- 5i. Nothing can be effected by an agreement that there shall be no accountability for fraud. Dig. 2, 14, 27, 3; Broom, Max. 3d. Lond. ed. 622, 188, n.
- 5j. By special agreement, things are allowed which are not otherwise permitted. Co. Litt. 166.
- 5l. The expressed agreement of the parties overcomes or prevails against the law, because the agreement of the parties makes the law of the contract. Story, Ag. S 368; Dig. 16, 3, 1, 6; 2 Coke, 73.
Fiction
- 45a. Where truth is, fiction of law does not exist. Black’s 494; Bouv. 127.
- 45d. In the fiction of law there is always equity; a legal fiction is always consistent with equity. 11 Coke, 51a; Broom, Max. 127, 130.
- 45f. Fictions arise from the law, and not law from fictions. Bouv. 136.
- 45g. Fiction of law is wrongful if it works loss or injury to any one. 2 Coke, 35; Broom, Max. 3d Lond. ed. 122.
- 45h. Fiction is a poor ground for changing substantial rights. C.L.M.
Rules & Principles of Law
- 95b. Every general principle [or maxim of law] is its own pledge or warrant; and things that are clearly true are not to be proved. Branch, Princ.; Co. Litt. 11.
- 95c. The exception to the rule should not destroy the rule. C.L.M. An exception proves the existence of a rule. Groves, 40 U.S. 449, 505.
- 95h. As to things not apparent, and those not existing, the rule is the same. 5 Coke, 6.
- 95y. Not only what is permitted, but what is convenient, is to be considered, because what is inconvenient is illegal. Co. Litt. 66a.
- 95bb. The law does not arise from the rule (or maxim), but the rule from the law. Tray. Lat. Max. 384.
Legal Rights
- 77d. Every one may renounce or relinquish a right introduced for his own benefit. 2 Inst. 183; Wing. Max. p. 483, max. 123; 4 Bl. Comm. 317; The People v. Van Rensselaer, 9 N.Y. 291, 333.
- 77i. He who has the legal right to do the greater or more important act shall not be debarred from the lesser act. 4 Coke, 23; Dig. 50, 17, 21; Broom, Max. 176; Co. Litt. 355b; 2 Inst. 307; Noy, Max.26.
- 77l. No one is bound to expose himself to misfortune and dangers. Co. Litt. 253.
- 77r. He who has the right to elect to do a thing has also the right to refuse it. C.L.M.
- 77t. A fact does not necessarily constitute a right. Branch, Max. 15.
Good Faith
- 50a. Good faith does not suffer the same thing to be demanded twice; and in making satisfaction [for a debt or demand] it is not allowed to be done more than once. 9 Coke, 53; Dig. 50, 17, 57.
- 50b. By good faith a possessor makes the fruits consumed his own. Tray. Max. 57.
- 50c. Good faith demands that what is agreed upon shall be done. Dig. 19, 20, 21; Id. 19, 1, 50; Id. 50, 8, 2, 13.
- 50e. Good faith does not allow us to demand twice the payment of the same thing. Dig. 50, 17, 57; Perline v. Dunn, 4 Johns Ch. (NY) 143.
- 50f. A possessor in good faith is only liable for that which he himself has obtained. 2 Inst. 285.
Judicial Acts & Procedures
- 65a. It matters not what is known to the judge, if it is not known to him judicially. 3 Bulstr. 115; Best, Ev. Introd. 31, s. 38.
- 65b. The decree (or act) of a court shall prejudice no man. Jenk. Cent. 118; C.L.M.
- 65e. It is the duty of a good judge to prevent litigations, that suit may not grow out of suit, and it concerns the welfare of a state that an end be put to litigation. 4 Coke, 15b; 5 Coke, 31a.
- 65g. A judicial writ fails not through defect of form. Jenk. Cent. 43.
- 65h. No court which has not a record can impose a fine, or commit any person to prison; because those powers belong only to courts of record. 8 Coke, 60.
Act, Acts, Action
- 2a. The frequency of an act effects much. 4 Coke (Sir Edward Coke’s English King’s Bench Reports), 78; Wing. Max. 192 (Wingate’s Maxims of Law).
- 2f. Things that are done simultaneously with an act are supposed to be inherent in it; to be a constituent part of it. Co. Litt. 236b (Coke on Littleton).
- 2i. Where there is no act, there can be no force. 4 Coke, 43 (Sir Edward Coke’s English King’s Bench Reports)
- 2s. To write is to act. 2 Rolle (Rolle’s English King’s Bench Reports), 89; 4 Bl. Comm. 80 (Sir William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Law); Broom, Max. 312, 967 (Broom’s Legal Maxims).
- 2y. No one can do that indirectly which cannot be done directly. C.L.M. (Common Law Maxims)
Judgment & Decision
- 64a. A judgement given by one who is not the proper judge is of no force and should not harm any one. 10 Coke, 70, 766; Bouv. 133; Fleta, 1. 6, c. 6, s. 7; Broom, Max. 92.
- 64f. The judge in his decision ought to follow the rule, when the exception is not provided. Black’s, 2d. 669; Bouv. 133.
- 64h. Nothing in law is more intolerable than that the same case or matter should be subject (in different courts) to different views of the law. 4 Coke, 93.
- 64p. The intention, count, foundation, and thing, brought to judgment, ought to be certain. Co.Litt. 303a; Jenk. Cent. 84.
- 64bb. He who determines any matter without hearing both sides, though he may have decided right, has not done justice. 6 Coke, 52a; 4 Bl. Comm. 283.
Precedent
- 88a. It is not a new thing that prior statutes shall give place to later ones. Dig. 1. 3. 26; 1. 1. 4; Broom, Max. 3d. Lond. ed 27.
- 88d. A particular case, left unprovided for by statute, must be disposed of according to the law as it existed prior to such statute. Broom, Max. 46.
- 88e. Things introduced contrary to the reason of law ought not to be drawn into a precedent. 12 Coke, 75; Dig. 1, 3, 14; Dig. 50, 17.
- 88i. One absurdity being allowed (established as precedent), an infinity follow. 1 Coke, 102.
- 88o. It is perilous to introduce new and untried things (laws). Co. Littl. 379a.
Annul, Abrogate, Revoke
- 7a. When the form is not observed, it is inferred that the act is annulled. 12 Coke, 7.
- 7b. It matters not whether a revocation be by words or by acts. Cro. Car. 49; Branch, Princ.
- 7e. Laws are abrogated or repealed by the same authority by which they are made. Broom, Max. 3d Lond. ed. 785.
- 7h. To derogate from a law is to take away part of it; to abrogate a law is to abolish it entirely. Dig. 50, 17, 102; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 91.
- 7i. All shall have liberty to renounce those things which have been established in their favor. Code. 2, 3, 29; Broom, Max. 625.
Deceit, Fraud
- 29g. Out of fraud no action arises; A right of action cannot arise out of fraud. Phelps v. Decker, 10 Mass. 276. Broom, Max. 349
- 29i. Once a fraud, always a fraud. 13 Vin. Abr. 539
- 29j. What otherwise is good and just, if it be sought by force and fraud, becomes bad and unjust. 3 Coke, 78.
- 29k. He is not deceived who knows himself to be deceived. 5 Coke, 60.
- 29r. It is a fraud to conceal a fraud. 1 Story, Eq. Jur. S. 389, 390.
Authority, Power
- 11a. A delegated power cannot be again delegated. 2 Inst. 597; Black’s 2d. 347; 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1300. A deputy cannot have (or appoint) a deputy. Story, Ag. s. 13; 9 Coke, 77; 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1936.
- 11f. Power can never be delegated which the authority said to delegate never possessed itself. N.J. Steam Co. v. Merch Bank, 6 How. (47 U.S.) 344, 407.
- 11i. Where there is no authority for establishing a rule, there is no necessity of obeying it. Black’s, 2d. 1181; Dav. Ir. K.B. 69. Useless power is to no purpose. Branch, Princ.
- 11j. One has authority when he has a legal or rightful power to act. C.L.M.
- 11t. He who contemns (or contemptuously treats) a command contemns the party who gives it. 12 Coke, 97.
Property Rights & Possessions
- 91r. Every one is a regulator and disposer of his own property. Co. Litt. 223a.
- 91u. Long possession produces the right of possession, and takes away from the true owner his action. Co. Litt. 110b, 115a; Fleta, lib. 3, c. 15, s. 6; Branch, Princ.; Co. Litt. 6.
- 91z. That which is mine cannot be lost, transferred to another, or taken away without my own act, consent, or forfeiture. Broom. Max. 465; Jenk. Cent. p. 251, case 41; 8 Coke, 92; Dig. 50, 17, 11.
- 91bb. The right of property is that sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individual. 1 Bl. Comm. 138; 2 Bl. Comm 2, 5.
- 91ee. No man is compelled to sell his own property, even for a just price. 4 Inst. 275.
Contracts
- 24a. An action cannot be founded on a barren or unconditional contract. C.L.M.
- 24e. Contracts have no locality. The obligation of a contract is purely personal, and actions to enforce it may be brought anywhere. 2 Inst.231; 1 Smith, Lead. Cas. 340, 363; Story, Confl. Laws, s. 362.
- 24i. Private contracts (or agreements) cannot derogate from public law or right. Broom, Max. 695; 7 Coke, 23; Wing. Max. max. 201; Co. Litt. 166a; Dig. 50, 17, 45, 1.
- 24w. Nothing is so natural as that an obligation should be dissolved by the same mode and principles in which it were contracted. Dig. 50, 17, 35; 2 Inst. 359, 360; Esmond v. Van Benschoten, 12 Barb. (N.Y.) 366, 275; Therefore, an obligation by words is taken away by words; an obligation of mere consent is dissolved by contrary consent. Broom, Max. 887.
- 24cc. In contracts, when the question is what was agreed upon, the terms are to be interpreted against the party offering them. Dig. 45, 1, 38, 18; 2 Kent, Comm. 721.
Agreements
- 5b. An agreement induced by fraud cannot stand. Dig. 2, 14, 7, s. 9.
- 5c. Those things which are impossible to be given, or which are not in the nature of things, are regarded as no part of an agreement. Dig. 50, 17, 135.
- 5i. Nothing can be effected by an agreement that there shall be no accountability for fraud. Dig. 2, 14, 27, 3; Broom, Max. 3d. Lond. ed. 622, 188, n.
- 5j. By special agreement, things are allowed which are not otherwise permitted. Co. Litt. 166.
- 5l. The expressed agreement of the parties overcomes or prevails against the law, because the agreement of the parties makes the law of the contract. Story, Ag. S 368; Dig. 16, 3, 1, 6; 2 Coke, 73.