Ecclesiastical law

  • Accusare nemo se debet nisi coram deo. No one is bound to accuse himself except before God.
  • Causa ecclesiae publicis aequiparatur; et summa est ratio quae pro religione facit. The cause of the church is equal to public causes; and paramount is the reason that acts in favor of religion.
  • Causae ecclesiae publicis causis aequiparantur. The causes of the church are equal to public causes.
  • Conscientia dicitur a con et scio, quasi scire cum Deo. Conscience is so called from con and scio, to know, as it were, with God.
  • Curia ecclesiastica locum non habet super iis quae juris sunt communis. An ecclesiastical court has no jurisdiction over matters of common law.
  • Deus solus haeredem facere potest, non homo. God alone, and not man, can make an heir.
  • Eadem causa diversis rationibus coram judicibus ecclesiasticis et secularibus ventilatur. The same cause is argued on different principles before ecclesiastical and secular judges.
  • Ecclesia ecclesiae decima solvere non debet. A church should not pay tithes to a church.
  • Ecclesiae magis favendum est quam personae. The church is to be more favored than the parson (or an individual).
  • Ecclesia est domus mansionalis omnipotentis Dei. The church is the mansion house of the omnipotent God.
  • Ecclesia est infra aetatem et in custodia domini regis, qui tenetur jura et haereditates ejusdem manu tenere et defendere. The church is underage and in the custody of the king, who is bound to uphold and defend its rights and inheritances.
  • Ecclesia fungitur vice minoris; meliorem conditionem suam facere potest, deteriorem nequaquam. The church enjoys the privilege of a minor; it can make its own condition better but not worse.
  • Ecclesia meliorari non deteriorari potest. A church can (lawfully) be improved but not made worse.
  • Ecclesia non moritur. The church does not die.
  • Haeredem Deus facit, non homo. God, and not man, makes the heir.
  • Ira hominis non implet justitiam Dei. The wrath of a man does not fulfill the justice of God.
  • Judici satis poena est quod Deum habet ultorem. It is punishment enough for a judge that he has God to take vengeance on him.
  • Jura ecclesiastica limitata sunt infra limites separatos. Ecclesiastical laws are limited within separate bounds.
  • Jurare est Deum in testem vocare, et est actus divini cultus. To swear is to call God to witness, and is an act of religion.
  • Jusjurandi forma verbis differt, re convenit; hunc enim sensum habere debet, ut Deus invocetur. The form of taking an oath differs in language, but agrees in meaning; for it ought to have this sense, that God is invoked.
  • Le ley de Dieu et ley de terre sont tout un, et l’un et l’autre preferre et favour le common et publique bien del terre. The law of God and the law of the land are all one; and both promote and favor the common and public good of the land.
  • Nemo debet bis puniri pro uno delicto; quod Deus non agit bis in id ipsum. No one should be punished twice for one crime, as God does not act twice against that very thing. 4 Coke 118.
  • Nemo militans Deo implicetur secularibus negotiis. No one warring for God should be troubled by secular business.
  • Non est consonum rationi quod cognitio accessorii in curia christianitatis impediatur, ubi cognitio causae principalis ad forum ecclesiasticum noscitur pertinere. It is unreasonable that the cognizance of an accessory matter should be impeded in an ecclesiastical court, when the cognizance of the principal cause is admitted to appertain to an ecclesiastical court.
  • Omnia Deo grata, hominibus utilia, reipublicae honesta, privatis justa et commoda probant leges, et pro viribus cuique imponunt. All things pleasing to God, useful to men, honorable to the State, just and advantageous to private persons, the laws approve and impose upon each person according to his powers.
  • Populus Anglicanus nemini servire nisi Deo et legibus. The people of England are subject to none but to God and the laws.
  • Qui dat pauperibus Deo dat. He gives to God who gives to the poor.
  • Quod datum est ecclesiae, datum est Deo. What has been given to the church has been given to God.
  • Quod non capit Christus, capit fiscus. What Christ (or the church) does not take, the treasury takes.
  • Rex non debet esse sub homine, sed sub Deo et sub lege, quia lex facit regem. The king ought to be under no man, but under God and the law, because the law makes a king. Bracton 1.8.5.
  • Simonia est voluntas sive desiderium emendi vel vendendi spiritualia vel spiritualibus adhaerentia. Contractus ex turpi causa est et contra bonos mores. Simony is the will or desire of buying or selling spiritualities, or things pertaining to them. It is a contract founded on a bad cause, and against morality.
  • Solus Deus facit haeredem, non homo. God alone, not the man, makes the heir.
  • Solus Deus haeredem facit. God alone makes the heir.
  • Trahi non debent in argumentum quae propter necessitatem recepta sunt. Things that are received on account of necessity ought not to be drawn into argument.