Introduction to Legal Maxims

Introduction

• Speaker: Shipu, a new legal educator
• Collaborators: Keshav Sir, Kati Ma'am
• Purpose: Teach important legal maxims
• Emphasis on comprehensive coverage for CLAT and AILET preparation
• Batches: Target (लक्ष्य) and Target Plus (लक्ष्य Plus)
• Quality education assured with a focus on quality content

Legal Maxims Overview

• Legal Maxims: Fundamental principles used in legal contexts, especially important for contract law, civil law, and natural justice.

1. Ab Initio

• Meaning: From the very beginning
• Usage: Contract law, void contracts
  • Example: If a contract requires impossible conditions, it is void from the start (e.g., contracting to bring stars from the sky).

2. Audi Alteram Partem

• Meaning: Listen to the other side
• Principle: No one should be condemned unheard; important in civil law and natural justice

3. Actus Dei Nemini Facit Injuriam (Act of God)

• Meaning: No one is responsible for the acts of God
• Example: Natural disasters like tsunamis, where no human is held liable for the damage

4. Alibi

• Meaning: Elsewhere
• Usage: Proving the accused was somewhere else at the time of the crime
  • Example: Defendant proves they were in a different city during the crime

5. Actus Reus Non Facit Reum Nisi Mens Sit Rea

• Meaning: An act does not make a person guilty unless there is criminal intent
• Usage: Necessity of proving guilty mind or intent along with the act

6. Amicus Curiae

• Meaning: Friend of the court
• Role: A member of the bar appointed to assist the court in a legal matter
  • Example: Lawyers appointed to research and provide information in a case impartial to any party

7. Actionable Per Se

• Meaning: Action that does not require the allegation of additional facts
• Example: Visible murder with a dead body found; no need to prove death further

8. Actus Reus

• Meaning: A guilty deed
• Usage: Essential element to prove criminal liability along with 'mens rea' (guilty mind)

9. Bona Fide

• Meaning: Genuine, in good faith
• Usage: Authenticity of documents, genuine actions

10. Caveat

• Meaning: A warning to consider something before taking further action
• Usage: Legal notice given to prevent actions without informing the party who filed the caveat
  • Example: Warns the court about a pending appeal to consider before making decisions

11. Caveat Emptor

• Meaning: Let the buyer beware
• Principle: Buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made

12. Certiorari

• Meaning: To be informed
• Role: Superior court calls for the record from a lower court
  • Example: District court records requested by high court or supreme court

13. Consensus Ad Idem

• Meaning: Meeting of the minds
• Principle: Agreement between parties on the same thing in the same sense; critically important in contract law

14. Damnum Sine Injuria

• Meaning: Damage without legal injury
• Usage: Financial or other types of damages where no legal right is violated
  • Example: Competition between two businesses where one loses customers

15. De Facto

• Meaning: In fact
• Usage: Refers to practices that exist in reality, even if not legally recognized

16. De Jure

• Meaning: By law
• Usage: Refers to legally recognized practices

17. De Minimis Non Curat Lex

• Meaning: The law does not concern itself with trifles
• Principle: Courts will not consider insignificant matters

18. De Novo

• Meaning: Anew, from the beginning
• Usage: A new trial or hearing

19. Doli Incapax

• Meaning: Incapable of doing harm
• Usage: Refers to individuals (often children) who are incapable of committing a crime due to age or understanding

20. Estoppel

• Meaning: Prevented from denying
• Principle: Once a statement is made, the person cannot go back on it if the other party relied on it

21. Ex Officio

• Meaning: By virtue of the office held
• Usage: Authority derived from an official position

22. Ex Parte

• Meaning: Proceeding in the absence of the other party
• Usage: Legal proceedings carried out without the other party being present when they fail to appear

Home Assignments

• Revise the discussed maxims
• Review additional maxims for the next session
• Prepare for MCQs and passage-based questions on these maxims

Next Session Preparation

• Review today's session thoroughly
• Be ready for questions on legal maxims
• Importance of understanding and retaining these principles for exams

Closing Remarks

• Encouragement to revise and prepare well
• Emphasis on the importance of these legal principles in professional practice

Note: Keep reviewing and revising regularly for a deep understanding of these legal maxims. They are fundamental to various aspects of law and critical for exams like CLAT and AILET.