Legal Definition and Related Resources of Lex

(Lat.) The law; a law for the government of mankind in society. Among the ancient Romans this word was frequently used as synonymous with right, jus. When put absolutely, it means the law of the Twelve Tables.

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This definition of Lex Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

Lex in the Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims

Latin. That which is laid, or fixed; the law. In Roman law, often synonymous with jus; also, a written law, a statute, an enactment; the law of the Twelve Tables. In old English law, a collection of laws; as, the Roman or civil law. Lex denoted law in its concerete sense; jus, in the general or abstract sense; like loi and droit in French, andgesetz and recht in German.

Note: This legal definition of Lex in the Dictionary of Law (English and American Jurisprudence) is from 1893.

Concept of “Lex”

Traditional meaning of lex in English (with some legal use of this latin concept in England and the United States in the XIX Century) [1]: (in Latin) Law. Lex agraria: an agrarian law. Lex aliquando sequitur aequitatem: the law sometimes follows equity. Lex Angliae, anglicana: the law, or curtesy, of England. Lex Angliae non patitur absurdum: the law of England will not suffer an absurdity. Lex Angliae sine Parliamento mutari non potest: the law of England cannot be altered without Parliament. Lex apparens (manifest law): trial by ordeal or battel. Lex citius tolerare rult privatum damnum quam publicum malum: the law will rather suffer a private loss than a public ill. Lex communis: the common law. Lex contractus: the law of [made by] the contract. Lex deficere non debet in justitia exhibenda: the law ought not to fail in showing justice. Lex domicilii: the law of the domicil; see Robinson’s Elementary Law Rev. ed.; §§ 18, 161. Lex est ab aetemo: law is from everlasting. Lex est norma recti: law is a rule of right. Lex est ratio summa, quae jubet quae sunt utilia et necessaria, et contraria prohibet: law is the highest reason, which ordains what is useful and necessary, and forbids the contrary. Lex et consuetudo Parliamenti: the law and custom of Parliament. Lex favet doti: the law favors dower. Lex feudi: the law of the fee. Lex fingit ubi subsistit sequitae: the law feigns [makes a fiction] where equity exists [in a case where equity requires it]. Lex fori: the law of the court [where the remedy is sought]; see 112 U. S. 452; 160 Mass. 571 . Lex judicat de rebus necessario faciendis quasi de re ipsa factis: the law judges of things necessarily to be done as if done in fact. Lex ligeantiae: the law of [the country to which one owes] allegiance. Lex loci: the law of the place. Lex loci contractus, delictus, actus: the law of the place where the contract, crime, act, took place. Lex loci rei sitae: the law of the place where the thing is situated. Lex loci solutionis: the law of the place of payment. Lex manifesta: manifest law; see 3rd Book (“Of Private Wrongs”), Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England 344; LEX APPARENS. Lex mercatoria: the law merchant. Lex necessitatis est lex temporis: the law of necessity is the law of the moment. Lex neminem cogit ad vana seu inutilia: the law compels no one to do vain or useless things. Lex neminem cogit ostendere quod nescire praesumitur: the law forces no one to show what he is presumed not to know. Lex nemini operator iniquum: the law works injustice to no one. Lex nil frustra facit: the law will do (does) nothing in vain. Lex non cogit ad impossibilia: the law does not force [one to do] impossible things. Lex non curat de minimis: the law takes no account of trifles. Lex non favet votis delicatorum: the law does not consider the wishes of the fastidious. Lex non patitur fractiones et divisiones statutorum: the law suffers not fractions and divisions of statutes. Lex non requirit verificari quod apparet curiae: the law does not require proof of that which is apparent to the court. Lex non scripta: the unwritten law. Lex patriae: the law of one’s country. Lex plus laudatur quando ratione probatur: the law is most worthy of praise when consonant with reason. Lex posterior derogat priori: a prior statute shall give place to a later one. Lex rei sitae: the law of the place where the thing is situated; see 6 Pick. 286. Lex rejicit superflua, pugnantia, incongrua: the law rejects things superfluous, contradictory, incongruous. Lex reprobat moram: the law reproves delay. Lex respicit aequitatem: the law regards equity. Lex scripta: the written law. Lex semper dabit remedium: the law will always give a remedy. Lex semper intendit quod convenit rationi: the law always intends what is agreeable to reason. Lex spectat naturae ordinem: the law regards the order of nature. Lex succurrit minoribus: the law aids [favors] minors. Lex talionis: the law of retaliation; see 4th Book (“Of Public Wrongs”), Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England 12. Lex terrae: the law of the land; due process of law.

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Notes and References

1. Based on A Concise Law Dictionary of Words, Phrases and Maxims, “Lex”, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911, United States. It is also called the Stimson’s Law dictionary. This term and/or definition may be absolete.

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