Twenty phrases
Latin is still the shorthand of the common law and of a lot of code review. Each page gives the literal English, the legal use, and the matching move in software. Measured scans of a public page live on proofofclaim.dev.
- Prima facie — at first sight
- Pacta sunt servanda — agreements must be kept
- Caveat emptor — let the buyer beware
- Habeas corpus — that you have the body
- Stare decisis — to stand by things decided
- Mens rea — a guilty mind
- Actus reus — the guilty act
- Ultra vires — beyond the powers
- Bona fide — in good faith
- Onus probandi — the burden of proof
- Res ipsa loquitur — the thing speaks for itself
- Nemo judex in causa sua — no one should be a judge in their own cause
- Audi alteram partem — hear the other side
- Contra proferentem — against the one who put it forward
- Expressio unius est exclusio alterius — to express one thing is to exclude the other
- De minimis non curat lex — the law does not concern itself with trifles
- Res judicata — a matter that has been judged
- Ratio decidendi — the reason for the decision
- Obiter dictum — something said by the way
- Ex post facto — from after the fact