', also spelled ' () were

legal maxims A legal maxim is an established principle or proposition of law, and a species of aphorism and general maxim. The word is apparently a variant of the Latin , but this latter word is not found in extant texts of Roman law with any denotation exac ...

which served as

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

. The term is also a generic term for general rules or principles of the interpretation of canon laws of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

; in this context, they remain principles of law used in interpreting

Catholic canon law The canon law of the Catholic Church ("canon law" comes from Latin ') is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholi ...

, despite no longer having any binding forces of law since the

1917 Code of Canon Law The 1917 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1917 CIC, from its Latin title ), also referred to as the Pio-Benedictine Code,Dr. Edward Peters accessed June-9-2013 was the first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law. Ordered ...

abrogated them.

Roman law

There are 211 ''Regulae iuris''. The first ''Regula iuris'' from this corpus is from the 3rd-century

jurisconsult A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

Paulus; it is: "The law is not drawn from the rule ''egula'' rather it is the rule which comes from the law."

Catholic Church

Catholic use

In a specific sense, however, ' are certain fundamental laws in the form of

legal maxim A legal maxim is an established principle or proposition of law, and a species of aphorism and general maxim. The word is apparently a variant of the Latin , but this latter word is not found in extant texts of Roman law with any denotation exac ...

s memorialized in the ''

Corpus Iuris Canonici The ''Corpus Juris Canonici'' ( lit. 'Body of Canon Law') is a collection of significant sources of the canon law of the Catholic Church that was applicable to the Latin Church. It was replaced by the 1917 Code of Canon Law which went into effe ...

'', comprising 11 that

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

placed at the end of the fifth ''Book of

Decretals Decretals ( la, litterae decretales) are letters of a pope that formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church.McGurk. ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms''. p. 10 They are generally given in answer to consultations but are sometimes ...

'' and 88 that

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of b ...

placed in the final title of ''Liber Sextus Decretalium''. These rules are deductions, rather than repetitions of legal principles in constitutions or judgments, of several laws on the same subject, and consequently were reserved to the final titles of the two books aforementioned, in imitation of the order of the

Justinian Code The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. It is also sometimes referred ...

, specifically the '' Digest'', Liber l, Titulus 17. While ' are greatly important, few general principles are without some exception. Some ' are applicable in all matters and others only to judicial trials, benefices, et cetera; the following examples of those of limited applicability are from the ''Liber Sextus Decretalium'': * "No one can be held to the impossible." (6) * "Time does not heal what was invalid from the beginning." (18) * "What is not allowed to the defendant is denied to the plaintiff." (32) * "What one is not permitted to do in his own name he may not do through another." (47)

88 rules of Boniface VIII

88 legal dicta, axioms, or principles comprise the ' promulgated in 1298 by

Roman law

Catholic Church

Catholic use

88 rules of Boniface VIII

See also

References

Edition (Catholic)

Further reading