Brocard
Encyclopedia
A Brocard is a legal
principle expressed in Latin
(and often derived from past legal authorities), which is traditionally used to express concisely a wider legal concept or rule. The name comes from the Latinized name of Burchard
(died 1025), bishop of Worms, Germany
, who compiled 20 volumes of Ecclesiastical Rules.
.
Along with numerous documents from a variety of sources, including the Old Testament
and Augustine of Hippo
, Burchard included the Canon Episcopi
in this collection, under the belief that it dated from a bishop's "Council of Anquira" in 314, but no other evidence of this council exists. Because of this inclusion, Burchard has been described as something of a rationalist. As the source of canon law, Burchard's Decretum was supplanted around 1150 by the Decretum Gratiani
, a much larger collection that further attempted to reconcile contradictory canon law.
Burchard spent the years 1023 to 1025 promulgating "Leges et Statuta familiae S. Petri Wormatiensis", a collection of religious laws he endorsed as fair and hoped to see adopted with official approval.
to briefly indicate a principle (adopted in some systems) referred to as the synallagmatic contract
.
Dura lex, sed lex : "The law
[is] harsh, but [it is] the law". It follows from the principle of the rule of law
that even draconian laws must be followed and enforced; if one disagrees with the result, one must seek to change the law.
Ignorantia legis non excusat
: "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." Not knowing that one's actions are forbidden by the law is not a defense.
In claris non fit interpretatio : When a rule is clearly intelligible, there is no need of proposing an (usually extensive) interpretation.
Iura novit curia
: The judge knows the law (technically, there is no need to "explain the law" or the legal system to a judge/justice in any given petition).
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali
: There can be neither crime
nor punishment
unless there is a penal law
first.
Pacta sunt servanda
: Contracts are the law or Contracts establish obligations (between those who sign them).
Quod non est in registro, non est in Mundo : What is not reported in the (related, referring) registry, has no legal relevance. Used when a formal act (usually a recording or a transcription) is required in order to give consistence, content or efficacy to a right
.
Res inter alios acta vel iudicata, aliis nec nocet nec prodocet : What has been agreed/decided between people (a specific group) can neither benefit nor harm a third party (meaning: two or more people cannot agree amongst each other to establish an obligation for a third party who was not involved in the negotiation; furthermore, any benefit that may be established will have to be accepted by the third party before it can be implemented).
Sententia quae in rem iudicatam transit, pro veritate habetur : When a definitive sentence
is declared, it is considered to be the truth. In the case of a sentence in rem iudicatam (that finally consents to consider completed a judgement), its content will then be the only legally relevant consideration of a fact.
Solve et repete : Respect your obligation first, then you can ask for reimbursement. Used in those situations in which one of the two (or more) parties needs to complete his obligation before being allowed to ask for the opposite obligation to be respected by his counter party. Usually this principle is used in fields and subjects in which a certain general steadiness or uniformity of the system has been considered a relevant value by the legislator. The case is typical of service contracts with repeated obligations (like with gas, water, electricity providers and similars), in which irregularities on one side cannot be balanced if not in a regular situation (i.e., of payments) on the other side. The customer, for example, might be asked to pay regularly the new bill, before contesting the previous one in which he found irregular calculations, and asking for a balancement with newer bills; he thus cannot by himself determine a discount in the next payment.
Ubi lex voluit, dixit; ubi noluit, tacuit : When the law wanted to regulate the matter in further detail, it did regulate the matter; when it did not want to regulate the matter in further detail, it remained silent (in the interpretation of a law, an excessively expansive interpretation might perhaps go beyond the intention of the legislator
, thus we must adhere to what is in the text of the law and draw no material consequences from the law's silence).
Nemo dat quod non habet: You cannot give what you do not have. This is a principle widely cited when considering the transfer of property rights, and is most commonly understood as referring to those situations where title to certain property held by the transferee may be void if the transferor never had title to that property in the first place.
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
principle expressed in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
(and often derived from past legal authorities), which is traditionally used to express concisely a wider legal concept or rule. The name comes from the Latinized name of Burchard
Burchard of Worms
Burchard of Worms was the Roman Catholic bishop of Worms in the Holy Roman Empire, and author of a Canon law collection in twenty books, the "Collectarium canonum" or "Decretum".-Life:...
(died 1025), bishop of Worms, Germany
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
, who compiled 20 volumes of Ecclesiastical Rules.
History
Begun in 1008, the materials took Burchard four years to compile. He wrote it while living in a small structure on top of a hill in the forest outside Worms, after his defeat of Duke Otto and while raising his adopted child. The collection, which he called the "Collectarium canonum" or "Decretum", became the primary source for canon lawCanon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
.
Along with numerous documents from a variety of sources, including the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
and Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, Burchard included the Canon Episcopi
Canon Episcopi
The Canon Episcopi is an important document in the history of witchcraft. It is first attested in the Libri de synodalibus causis et disciplinis ecclesiasticis composed by Regino of Prüm around 906, but Regino considered it an older text; he, and later scholars following him, believed it to be from...
in this collection, under the belief that it dated from a bishop's "Council of Anquira" in 314, but no other evidence of this council exists. Because of this inclusion, Burchard has been described as something of a rationalist. As the source of canon law, Burchard's Decretum was supplanted around 1150 by the Decretum Gratiani
Decretum Gratiani
The Decretum Gratiani or Concordia discordantium canonum is a collection of Canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook by the jurist known as Gratian. It forms the first part of the collection of six legal texts, which together became known as the Corpus Juris Canonici...
, a much larger collection that further attempted to reconcile contradictory canon law.
Burchard spent the years 1023 to 1025 promulgating "Leges et Statuta familiae S. Petri Wormatiensis", a collection of religious laws he endorsed as fair and hoped to see adopted with official approval.
Examples
Inadimplenti non est adimplendum : "One has no need to respect his obligation if the counter-party has not respected his own." This is used in civil lawCivil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
to briefly indicate a principle (adopted in some systems) referred to as the synallagmatic contract
Synallagmatic contract
In civil law systems, a synallagmatic contract is a contract in which each party to the contract is bound to provide something to the other party. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek synallagma, meaning mutual agreement...
.
Dura lex, sed lex : "The law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
[is] harsh, but [it is] the law". It follows from the principle of the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
that even draconian laws must be followed and enforced; if one disagrees with the result, one must seek to change the law.
Ignorantia legis non excusat
Ignorantia juris non excusat
Ignorantia juris non excusat or ignorantia legis neminem excusat is a legal principle holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely because he or she was unaware of its content...
: "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." Not knowing that one's actions are forbidden by the law is not a defense.
In claris non fit interpretatio : When a rule is clearly intelligible, there is no need of proposing an (usually extensive) interpretation.
Iura novit curia
Iura novit curia
Iura novit curia is a Latin legal maxim expressing the principle that "the court knows the law", i.e., that the parties to a legal dispute do not need to plead or prove the law that applies to their case...
: The judge knows the law (technically, there is no need to "explain the law" or the legal system to a judge/justice in any given petition).
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali is a basic maxim in continental European legal thinking...
: There can be neither crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
nor punishment
Punishment
Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
unless there is a penal law
Penal law
In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs...
first.
Pacta sunt servanda
Pacta sunt servanda
Pacta sunt servanda , is a brocard, a basic principle of civil law and of international law.In its most common sense, the principle refers to private contracts, stressing that contained clauses are law between the parties, and implies that nonfulfilment of respective obligations is a breach of the...
: Contracts are the law or Contracts establish obligations (between those who sign them).
Quod non est in registro, non est in Mundo : What is not reported in the (related, referring) registry, has no legal relevance. Used when a formal act (usually a recording or a transcription) is required in order to give consistence, content or efficacy to a right
Right
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
.
Res inter alios acta vel iudicata, aliis nec nocet nec prodocet : What has been agreed/decided between people (a specific group) can neither benefit nor harm a third party (meaning: two or more people cannot agree amongst each other to establish an obligation for a third party who was not involved in the negotiation; furthermore, any benefit that may be established will have to be accepted by the third party before it can be implemented).
Sententia quae in rem iudicatam transit, pro veritate habetur : When a definitive sentence
Sentence (law)
In law, a sentence forms the final explicit act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence can generally involve a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...
is declared, it is considered to be the truth. In the case of a sentence in rem iudicatam (that finally consents to consider completed a judgement), its content will then be the only legally relevant consideration of a fact.
Solve et repete : Respect your obligation first, then you can ask for reimbursement. Used in those situations in which one of the two (or more) parties needs to complete his obligation before being allowed to ask for the opposite obligation to be respected by his counter party. Usually this principle is used in fields and subjects in which a certain general steadiness or uniformity of the system has been considered a relevant value by the legislator. The case is typical of service contracts with repeated obligations (like with gas, water, electricity providers and similars), in which irregularities on one side cannot be balanced if not in a regular situation (i.e., of payments) on the other side. The customer, for example, might be asked to pay regularly the new bill, before contesting the previous one in which he found irregular calculations, and asking for a balancement with newer bills; he thus cannot by himself determine a discount in the next payment.
Ubi lex voluit, dixit; ubi noluit, tacuit : When the law wanted to regulate the matter in further detail, it did regulate the matter; when it did not want to regulate the matter in further detail, it remained silent (in the interpretation of a law, an excessively expansive interpretation might perhaps go beyond the intention of the legislator
Legislator
A legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
, thus we must adhere to what is in the text of the law and draw no material consequences from the law's silence).
Nemo dat quod non habet: You cannot give what you do not have. This is a principle widely cited when considering the transfer of property rights, and is most commonly understood as referring to those situations where title to certain property held by the transferee may be void if the transferor never had title to that property in the first place.