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Common Legal Maxims for CLAT

AP
Aparna Shukla
6 June 20211 min read
Given below are the few common legal maxims for CLAT. Questions related to legal maxims are often asked in the law entrance exams as a part of Legal GK.
This is an area where it is not very difficult to lose marks provided you have read the maxims thoroughly. Usually, the maxims that are asked in these exams are not very uncommon or difficult ones. Although this is not an exhaustive list for maxims, these are the maxims you are advised to know well. All the best!
  1. Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea
  • The act does not make a man guilty unless he has a guilty mind.
  1. Qui facit per alium facit per se
  • A person who makes another person acting for him is deemed to be acting himself.
  1. Ubi jus lbi remedium
  • Where there is a right, there is a remedy
  1. Ignorantia juris non excusat
  • Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.
  1. Volenti non fit injuria
  • One who has consented for the act suffers no injury.
  1. Actus reus
  • Guilty act
  1. Mens rea
  • Guilty mind
  1. Corpus delicti
  • Body of the crime
  1. De minimis non curat lex
  • The law does not concern itself with trivial things
  1. Vis major
  • Act of god
  1. Stare decisis
  • To stand by the things decided
  1. Res ipsa loquitor
  • Things speak for itself
  1. Nudum pactum
  • A bare promise
  1. consensus ad idem
  • Agreeing upon the same thing in the same sense
  1. Bona fide
  • In good faith
  1. Mandamus
  • We command
  1. Habeas corpus
  • Bring the body
  1. Lox loci
  • The law of the land
  1. Lex fori
  • The law of the foreign land
  1. Intra vivos
  • Between the living
  1. In pari materia
  • In the same matter
  1. Ex injuria jus non oritur
  • Law does not arise from injustice
  1. Ejusdem generis
  • Of the same class
  1. Doli incapax
  • Incapable of guilt
  1. audi alteram partem
  • Hear the other side
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AP
Aparna Shukla
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Aparna Shukla
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