Skip to content- Aequitas vult spoliatos, vel deceptos, vel lapsos ante omnia restitui. Equity wishes the plundered, the deceived, and the ruined, above all, to have restitution.
- Alienus dolus nocere alteri non debet. The fraud of one party should not harm another. Dig. 44.4.11pr.
- Alterius circumventio alii non praebet actionem. A deception practiced on one person does not give a cause of action to another.
- Auctoris dolus emptori non obicitur. The deceit of the seller is not an objection against the buyer. Cf. Dig. 44.4.4.27.
- Clam delinquens magis punitur quam palam. A person who does wrong secretly is punished more severely than one who acts openly. 8 Coke 127.
- Consilii non fraudulenti nulla obligatio est; caeterum si dolus et calliditas intercessit, de dolo actio competit. No one is liable for honest advice; but if fraud and cunning have occurred, an action for fraud is admissible. Dig. 50.17.47.
- Deceptis, non decipientibus, jura subveniunt. The laws help persons who have been deceived, not those deceiving.
- Decipi non censetur qui scit se decipi. A person is not considered to be deceived who knows that he is being deceived. Cf. Dig. 50.17.145.
- Decipi quam fallere est tutius. It is safer to be deceived than to deceive.
- Dolo facit qui petit quod redditurus est. A person acts with deceit who seeks what he will have to return.
- Dolo malo pactum fit quotiens circumscribendi alterius causa aliud agitur et aliud agi simulatur. A pact is made with malice when, with the aim of defrauding another, one thing is done and something else is pretended. Dig. 2.14.7.9.
- Dolosus versatur in generalibus. A deceiver deals in generalities.
- Dolus est machinatio, cum aliud dissimulat aliud agit. Deceit is an artifice, since it pretends one thing and does another.
- Dolus et fraus nemini patrocinentur (patrocinari debent). Deceit and fraud should excuse or benefit no one (they themselves require some excuse).
- Dolus et fraus una in parte sanari debent. Deceit and fraud should always be remedied.
- Dolus latet in generalibus. Fraud lurks in generalities. • This maxim is also sometimes written Dolus versatur in generalibus (meaning “fraud deals in generalities”).
- Dolus non praesumitur. Fraud (or malice) is not presumed. Cf. Dig. 22.3.18.1 (continuing, “one who alleges fraud … must prove it”).
- Dolus praesumitur contra versantem in illicito. Fraud is presumed against one engaged in an illegal act or transaction.
- Dolus tutoris vel curatoris nocere (neque prodesse) pupillo vel furioso non debet. Deception on the part of a guardian or a trustee should not harm (or benefit) the ward, whether underage or mentally incapacitated. Dig. 14.4.3.1.
- Fama, fides, et oculus non patiuntur ludum. Reputation, plighted faith, and eyesight do not endure deceit.
- Fraudis interpretatio semper in jure civili, non ex eventu dumtaxat, sed ex consilio quoque desideratur. In civil law the interpretation of fraud is sought not only from the outcome but also from the intention. Dig. 50.17.79.
- Fraus aequitati praejudicat. Fraud is prejudicial to equity.
- Fraus auctoris non nocet successori. The fraud of the author (or ancestor) does not injure his successor.
- Fraus enim astringit, non dissolvit perjurium. Fraud, in fact, does not undo but aggravates perjury. Cicero, De Officiis 3.113.
- Fraus est celare fraudem. It is a fraud to conceal a fraud.
- Fraus est odiosa et non praesumenda. Fraud is odious and not to be presumed.
- Fraus et dolus nemini patrocinari debent. Fraud and deceit should excuse no one.
- Fraus et jus nunquam cohabitant. Fraud and justice never dwell together.
- Fraus latet in generalibus. Fraud lies hidden in general expressions.
- Fraus legibus invisissima. Fraud is most odious to law.
- Fraus meretur fraudem. Fraud deserves fraud.
- Fraus omnia corrumpit. Fraud corrupts all.
- Furtum est contrectatio rei alienae fraudulenta, cum animo furandi, invito illo domino cujus res illa fuerat. Theft is the fraudulent handling of another’s property, with an intention of stealing, against the will of the proprietor, whose property it had been.
- Generaliter cum de fraude disputatur, non quid non habeat actor sed quid per adversarium habere non potuerit considerandum est. In a dispute about fraud, we must consider, in general, not what the plaintiff does not have but what he has not been able to obtain because of his adversary. Dig. 50.17.78.
- In commodato haec pactio, ne dolus praestetur, rata non est. In a loan for use (commodatum), a pact excluding liability for fraud is invalid. • Often extended to contracts for loans in general. Dig. 13.6.17.
- Intentio caeca mala. A concealed intention is an evil one.
- Lex est tutissima cassis; sub clypeo legis nemo decipitur. Law is the safest helmet; under the shield of the law no one is deceived.
- L’obligation sans cause, ou sur une fausse cause, ou sur cause illicite, ne peut avoir aucun effet. An obligation without consideration, or on a false consideration, or on unlawful consideration, cannot have any effect.
- Nemo de improbitate sua consequitur actionem. Nobody acquires (the right to) legal action by his own dishonesty. Dig. 47.2.12.1.
- Nemo ex dolo suo proprio relevetur aut auxilium capiat. Let no one be relieved or gain advantage by his own fraud.
- Nemo habetur agere dolose qui jure se utitur. No one is held to act fraudulently who acts in exercise of his rights.
- Nemo videtur fraudare eos qui sciunt et consentiunt. No one is considered as deceiving those who know and consent.
- Non decipitur qui scit se decipi. A person is not deceived who knows himself to be deceived.
- Non est regula quin fallat. There is no rule that may not deceive (or disappoint).
- Non semper videtur dolo facere qui reposcenti non reddit. Somebody who does not return what the owner demands cannot always be seen to act in deceit. Dig. 16.3.1.22 (e.g., if the property is inaccessible).
- Non solet exceptio doli nocere his quibus voluntas testatoris non refragatur. A fraud exception does not usually damage claims that are consistent with the testator’s intent. Dig. 50.17.19.1.
- Nulla pactione effici potest ne dolus praestetur. No agreement is sufficient to effect that there be no liability for fraud. Dig. 2.14.27.3.
- Nullus videtur dolo facere qui suo jure utitur. No one is to be regarded as acting by fraud who exercises his legal right.
- Nul sans damage avera error ou attaint. No one shall have error or attaint unless there has been damage.
- Occultatio thesauri inventi fraudulosa. The concealment of discovered treasure is fraudulent.
- Omnis qui se offert petitioni quasi possidens tenetur. Anybody who makes a defense against a claim is held (liable) as the possessor. Dig. 5.3.13.13 (as when one fraudulently claims an inheritance and opposes competing claims).
- Perjuri sunt qui servatis verbis juramenti decipiunt aures eorum qui accipiunt. Those who preserve the words of an oath but deceive the ears of those who accept it are perjurors. • Coke adds, “By ancient law of England, in all oathes equivocation is utterly condemned.” 3 Co. Inst. 166.
- Populus vult decipi — et decipiatur. The public wishes to be deceived — and let it be deceived.
- Pro possessore habetur qui dolo injuriave desiit possidere. A person is considered a possessor who has ceased possession through fraud or injury.
- Quaeritur, ut crescant tot magna volumina legis? In promptu causa est, crescit in orbe dolus. It is asked, how so many great (law) volumes grow? The explanation is plain: because fraud grows great in the world. 3 Coke 82a.
- Qui alienas res negligenter perdit aut vi vel dolo malo aufert, suas amittito. Whoever negligently ruins another man’s property, or takes it away by force or fraud, let him lose his own (of equal value).
- Qui aliud dicit quam vult neque id quod vox significat, quia non vult, neque id quod vult, quia id non loquitur. One who says something other than what he wishes neither means what he says because it is not his intent, nor conveys his intent because he does not say it. Dig. 34.5.3.
- Qui dolo desierit possidere pro possidente damnatur. One who has dispossessed himself by fraud is condemned (nonetheless) as possessor.
- Qui dolo male desierit possidere pro possessore damnatur. One who has fraudulently ceased to possess is condemned as if he were the possessor. Dig. 50.17.131.
- Qui dolo possessit pro possidente, (ei) pro possessione dolus est. One who has taken possession by fraud, in place of the possessor, has fraud in place of possession.
- Quidquid enim sive dolo et culpa venditoris accidit in eo venditor securus est. For concerning anything that occurs without deceit and guilt on the part of the vendor, the vendor is secure.
- Qui inertibus dat industrios nudat. He who gives to the indolent defrauds the industrious.
- Qui jussu judicis aliquod fecerit non videtur dolo malo fecisse, quia parere necesse est. A person who has done anything by order of a judge is not considered to have acted in fraud, because it is necessary to obey.
- Qui per fraudem agit frustra agit. He who commits fraud, acts in vain.
- Qui scit se decipi non decipitur. One who knows that he is being deceived is not deceived.
- Qui vult decipi, decipiatur. Let one who wishes to be deceived be deceived.
- Quod alias bonum et justum est, si per vim vel fraudem petatur, malum et injustum efficitur. What is otherwise good and just, if it is sought by force or fraud, becomes bad and unjust.
- Quod fraude factum est in alios infectum esto, contra fraudatorem valet. What is done in fraud, although null and void against others, is valid against the defrauder.
- Quotiens in fraudem legis fit alienatio, non valet quod actum est. Whenever alienation is a “fraud on the law,” what was done has no validity. Dig. 37.14.16pr.
- Si quis custos fraudem pupillo fecerit, a tutela removendus est. If a guardian commits fraud against his ward, he is to be removed from the guardianship.
- Vendens eandem rem duobus falsarius est. A vendor is fraudulent if he sells the same thing to two (separate) buyers.
