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.

Agree, Agreements Audio

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.

Fiction Audio

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.

Rules & Principles of Law Audio

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.

Legal Rights Audio

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.

Good Faith Audio

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.

Judicial Acts & Procedures Audio

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)

Act, Acts and Action Audio

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.

Judgment & Decision Audio

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.

Precedent Audio

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.

Annul, Abrogate, Revoke Audio