USING LATIN WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS EFFECTIVELY IN LEGAL DOCUMENTS

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF LAW

GRADUATION THESIS
B.A. DEGREE IN ENGLISH
Major: Legal English

USING LATIN WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS EFFECTIVELY
IN LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Supervisor: Phan Le Chi, MA
Student: Vo Minh Nga
Student ID: 1652202010038
Class: LE41

Ho Chi Minh City, 2020



Comment of Supervisor
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis would not have been fulfilled had I not received so much help, support
and encouragement from my supervisor, lecturers, friends and family. So, this part is
for my great gratitude to all of them.
First of all, I would like to give the most sincere thanks to my supervisor, Ms. Phan
Le Chi, whose excellent advice and instruction have guided me to make this thesis
happen. She is the reason that I was able to break through all the limitation that I
thought I could have never overcome, progressed and improved myself day by day. I
also owe great deal of gratitude to all of my lecturers, instructors and friends in the
past four years in Ho Chi Minh City University of Law because without them, it would
be impossible for me to get this opportunity to help other students in future years with
my knowledge and experience.
Second, I would like to express my appreciation to the help from my fellows,
Nguyen Ngoc Minh Trang, Nguyen Ngoc Huynh Anh, and Le Thi Hoang Chau, who

have brought me wonderful inspiration. They proved themselves to be not only very
talented people but also great companions and supporters during my most stressful
phase of the work.
At last, I would like to give big thanks to all of my family, my biggest support and
encouragement. I am very grateful of their patience with me, their sponsorship and
their restless cheers.
This work is still incomplete but I do hope that it will become a good resort, and
may be an inspiration, for law students in Vietnam in their way to the international
legal world.
VO MINH NGA
Ho Chi Minh City
31 May 2020


ABBREVIATIONS
A.D.

Anno Domini

adj

Adjective or adjectival phrase

adv

Adverb or adverbial phrase

BA

Bachelor of Arts

B.C.

Before Christ

CoR

European Committee of the Regions

E.g.

Exempli gratia

EC

European Communities

EPA

Economic Partnership Agreement

etc.

Et cetera

ibid

ibidem (in the same place)

ICJ

International Court of Justice

iss

Issue

L

Law

La

Louisiana

misc 2d

New York Miscellaneous Reports (1878-2003)

n

Noun or noun phrase

prep

Preposition

pro

Pronoun

RIAA

Reports of International Arbitral Awards

UK

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

UNTS

United Nations Treaty Series

US, USA

United States of America

v

Versus

v

Verb or verbal phrase


Table of Contents
PREFACE

1

1.

STUDY BACKGROUND

1

2.
3.

STUDY OBJECTIVES
STUDY QUESTIONS

1
2

4.
5.
6.

SCOPE OF RESEARCH
LITERATURE REVIEW
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2
2
3

7.

STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS

4

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION TO LATIN

5

CHAPTER II: THE USE OF LATIN LANGUAGE IN LEGAL CONTEXTS

7

1.

ROMAN LAW – THE HOME OF LEGAL LATIN

7

1.1. THE BACKGROUND OF ROMAN LAW
1.2. CONTRIBUTION OF ROMAN LAW
2. THE USE OF LATIN IN LEGAL SYSTEM IN ANCIENT TIME

8
9
10

2.1. DURING THE ROMAN EMPIRE
2.2. DURING THE MIDDLE AGE
3. THE USE OF LATIN IN MODERN LEGAL WORLD
4. PLAIN LANGUAGE AND ITS POSSIBILITIES TO REPLACE THE USE OF LATIN LEGALESE

10
10
11
13

4.1.
4.2.
4.3.

13
15
15

CIVIL LAW SYSTEM, CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
IRREPLACEABLE TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS
HABITUAL USE AMONG THE LEGAL COMMUNITIES

CHAPTER III: LATIN TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS – DEFINITIONS AND USAGE

17

1.

COMMON LEGAL LATIN TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS

17

2.
3.

HOW TO USE LATIN TERMS IN LEGAL WRITING?
SUMMARY AND SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDIES

36
42

CONCLUSION

44


PREFACE
1. Study Background
Back to the world’s early history in civilization, Latin language, with the help from
the Roman conquests all over Europe, obtained the highest popularity and importance
in the society. The heritage of Latin language managed to survive up till our present
days even though it has no active speaker at the moment. Especially, in such fields as
law and medicines, Latin terms and expressions are still being learned and used, and
they constituted an essential subject in these science fields.
In legal practice, Latin legalese is an important part to the extent that it represents
basic terms in the science of law. Law students are often encouraged to study Latin
language in order to facilitate their studies both with common and civil law systems.
Besides, due to the frequent use of Latin legalese in legal communities, learning how
to use them correctly and effectively in legal drafting remains as an imperial need. On
the other hand, in Vietnam, the legal regime and language are more or less different
from other parts of the world, and rarely has a Latin term been adopted in the law or
the jurisprudence except for those in international contexts. Therefore, it is typically
difficult for Vietnamese law students to research on and familiarize with legal Latin,
which is already tricky for law studiers in western societies whose tongues are closer

to Latin language.
It is in such context that this work is drawn up with the aim of assisting law students
in Vietnam as well as other learners interested in the subject acquiring basic
knowledge of the origin of Latin language as a whole and legal Latin individually, its
role in ancient and modern jurisprudence and most importantly, its functions and how
to put it into use effectively in legal writings now.
2. Study objectives
With this thesis, the author hopes to help readers, especially law students and
lawyers, understand the importance of Latin language in legal use as well as achieve
the most basic knowledge of Latin terms and expressions that are commonly used in
legal context. Furthermore, it is hoped that, after reading this, law students and
practitioners will be able to make use of Latin legalese fluently and effectively during
their ordinary course of study and business and achieve the targets they desire.
1


3. Study questions
In the following chapters of this thesis, the author will attempt to analyze and
explain four main issues:
-

Why is Latin language used in legal context?

-

How is Latin language used in legal context?

-

Is it possible for replacing Latin with plain language? If not, why is that?

-

How to understand Latin terms correctly and put them into use effectively?

4. Scope of research
Since the target readers of this thesis are lawyers, law students and others who are
interested in researching in law, the thesis will focus on Latin terms and expressions in
the context of texts of law, texts about law as well as legal language used in judicial
and administrative documents and procedures.
5. Literature review
Regarding the role of Latin in modern legal practice, there are three significant
points that are widely admitted: (i) it has wide range of popularity both in time and
space, (ii) the Roman law associating with Latin is very strong in influence, and (iii)
the language is favored by the professionals. To depict how popular and strongly
impacting legal Latin is, the comment on the use of Latin in international law of Aaron
X. Fellmeth and Maurice Horwitz is a clear and interesting example.
Aspiring international lawyers may wonder about the ubiquity of Latin in
international legal discourse in the first place. It may seem that the esoterism of
such a prevalent practice can only be intentional. The official explanation is that
much early international law was developed by the Roman Empire, and the
much admired Roman civil law has found its way by analogy into public
international law wherever a lacuna or ambiguity in the principles of
international law arose. When combined with the fact that Latin was the
scholarly lingua franca of most of Europe during international law’s early
development, international lawyers have inherited an even better stocked
arsenal of Latin phrases and terms than other lawyers.1
1

Aaron X Fellmeth & Maurice Horwitz, Guide to Latin in International Law (Oxford University Press 2009) vii

(footnote omitted)

2


The language’s effects are also recognized by Professor Heikki E. S. Mattila of
University of Lapland, Finland:
Although Latin is no longer the language of legal science, or of legal practice –
leaving aside canon law – it has left important traces in modern legal languages.
On the one hand, this is a matter of sentence level: the style of modern legal
languages still reflects the rhythm of old legal Latin. On the other hand, a large
proportion of the vocabulary of modern legal languages comes from the legal
Latin used in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, or the beginning of modern times… 2
In addition, Professor Mattila also suggested that the need of using Latin is beyond
historical reasons.
But Latin elements also appear as such in modern legal languages. Modern texts
contain direct Latin quotations: terms, other expressions, and maxims. This is
partly a matter of rhetoric: Latin is used as a stylistic tool; an aesthetic medium.
This is often explained by the need to impress the reader. Thus, by using Latin
expressions and maxims, a lawyer sets out to show his professional competence
in front of the uninitiated, or his colleagues. ( … ) However, these expressions
and maxims often fulfil a more important function. They are used to convince
the reader or listener of the content of the legal order or to explain a legal
concept. Moreover, Latin maxims have a mnemonic importance, thanks to their
often rhythmic character.3
As can be seen above, the use of Latin in legal context is natural and inevitable. It is
also admitted that comprehension in Latin legalese will facilitate lawyers to
understand laws and each other better. So, an instruction or guidelines in using legal
Latin is always in need.
6. Research methodology

Throughout this thesis, the following methods will be applied in order to illuminate
the set-forth issues:
Synthesizing theory method: using academic books, journals, and other materials to
collect and generalize the features of Latin language, its development process to make
2
3

Heikki E S Mattila, Comparative legal linguistics (Christopher Goddard tr, Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2006) 136
ibid

3


a description of the Latin language and evaluate the language’s contribution in legal
communication.
Historical method: researching on the history of legal language and legal Latin to
make a summary of the language’s developments and hence, propose the historical
impacts that it has on the modern legal systems and practice.
Comparative method: comparing the use of legal Latin terms in the past and at
present to make the meaning of the terms as clear as possible and recommend a proper
use. Also, this method is utilized to compare the use of legal Latin terms of different
drafters in different contexts to illustrate the effectiveness of such uses.
Analyzing method: analyzing the Latin terms and expressions in respect of their
meanings, components, position in the sentence, contexts; analyzing legal documents
which contain legal Latin terms to suggest a practical method to study and use them in
legal communication.
7. Structure of the thesis
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION TO LATIN
CHAPTER II: THE USE OF LATIN LANGUAGE IN LEGAL CONTEXTS
CHAPTER III: LATIN TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS – DEFINITIONS AND

USAGE

4


CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION TO LATIN
The origin of Latin dated back to the first millennium B.C. in the peninsula of
Italy.4 Back then, there were wars and conflicts coming one after one another. Similar
to the wars caused by human to earn their hegemony, Latin competed with other
archaic dialects such as Oscan and Umbrian to gain the dominant influence all over the
Italian peninsula. In the end, following the victory of the Romans, Latin, which was
chosen by the winner, became the official language of Roman Empire, laying the
groundwork for the great development afterwards.
Latin language belongs to the Indo-European family and is the origin of modern
language nowadays including French, Italian, Rumanian, Spanish, and so on.5 At its
early stage of existence (before about 75 B.C.)6, Latin was one of the dialects spoken
in the Italian peninsula, along with Oscan and Umbrian. The scripts of Latin were
scarce at this time or at least, very scarce written evidences have been found up till
now. However, after 75 B.C., the language started to bloom and reached its golden age
in the period from approximately 75 B.C. to the first centuries A.D..7 It is also in this
period that a standard for the language could be formed thanks to a number of written
proofs that had been left. And if take a closer look, we can see that the Latin taught in
many classes these days is more familiar with the Latin language of this time period
than other stages. Also, this was when the Roman literature and science made their
greatest contributions to the world history with famous names among which Lucretius,
Julius Caesar, Cicero, Seneca, Pliny the Elder were the significant representatives.8
From around 200 to 1300 A.D., the Roman Empire made a huge expansion all over
Europe. As a result, Latin spread through the continent and gave birth to a number of
4

John Garger, ‘A Brief History of the Latin Language’ (Bright Hub Education)
<www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-translating-latin/17702-brief-history-of-latin-language/> accessed 19
March 2020
5
6

ibid
John Garger, ‘A Brief History of the Latin Language’ (Bright Hub Education)

<www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-translating-latin/17707-brief-history-of-old-latin/> accessed 19 March
2020
7

John Garger, ‘A Brief History of the Latin Language’ (Bright Hub Education)
<www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-translating-latin/17710-brief-history-of-the-classical-latin-period/>
accessed 19 March 2020
8

ibid

5


dialects. Those dialects were, later on, the origins of Romance languages (French,
Italian, Spanish, etc.).9 This might explain why we can notice some similarities
between Latin and some languages currently spoken in European countries at present.
From 900 to 1300 A.D., Latin truly became the main language in Europe. It was the
language of Roman Churches, scholarship and science. It was the main tool to express
ideas on philosophy, technology and literature. The vocabulary of Latin then was
larger than any previous stages due to the exchange with local dialects of regions

where the Romans set foot in. One more thing worth mentioning is that during this
stage Latin was influenced by Germanic as well.10 Germanic language eventually
transformed into English so it is understandable how some Latin words found their
home in Old English and in the other way around.11
In the 1400s, the last piece of Roman Empire had collapsed but that did not mean
the fall of Latin language. The Renaissance period taking place at the same time was
the key to the survival of Latin in the following centuries after Roman dominance.
Greek and Roman literature then were held in high regard as original works of
genius.12 Such authors as Cicero are highly praised, and as a consequence the Latin
style in the previous stage (75 B.C. – 200 A.D.) once again sprang to life. It is also
because of this Renaissance period that the classical Latin is mainly taught nowadays
rather than other forms of Latin from more recent time periods.13
Since 1500 A.D., Romance languages started to raise their voice but Latin remained
as the language of law, religion, and education and was used for communication on

9

John Garger, ‘A Brief History of the Latin Language’ (Bright Hub Education)
</www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-translating-latin/17768-brief-history-of-vulgar-latin/> accessed 19
March 2020
10

John Garger, ‘A Brief History of the Latin Language’ (Bright Hub Education)
</www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-translating-latin/17775-brief-history-of-medieval-latin/> accessed 19
March 2020
11
ibid
12

John Garger, ‘A Brief History of the Latin Language’ (Bright Hub Education)

<www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-translating-latin/17800-a-brief-history-of-renaissance-latin/> accessed
19 March 2020
13

ibid

6


most of the continent.14 Although English and French were popular languages among
students then, Latin was still a main subject because of the necessity for studying
mathematics, reading and writing. In the early eighteenth century, France conquered
over Europe. It was until then that Latin stepped down from its position as a universal
language and gave the way to French. From there on, the influence and popularity of
Latin language faded. By the late nineteenth century, Latin was used by a few
branches of science and in the Roman Catholic Church even though fewer and fewer
people can understand it. By this time, it seemed that Latin had finally expired as a
useful language to learn for the purposes of communication. Nevertheless, Latin is still
present in the modern time. Latin classes are still offered to students, though they are
mainly for translation and studies in anthropology and archaeology. 15

CHAPTER II: THE USE OF LATIN LANGUAGE IN
LEGAL CONTEXTS
1. Roman law – the home of legal Latin
There are many legal systems that used Latin as their tongue of law throughout the
history of thousands of years. Some of them have stopped using Latin and adopted
their national languages but some are still faithful with it like Canon law, the law of
Roman Catholic Church, which is still using Latin as the prevailing language in its
documents, solemn ceremonies and vital meetings. Others play an important role
during a certain time in the development of not only the language but also the

jurisprudence like German law, which depicted the state of the law and society at the
dawn of the Middle Ages, preserved several Roman legal texts that cannot be located
in any of the extant Roman sources.16 But the most outstanding law that laid the seed
and brought the whole civil law system as well as the Latin language to their most
prosperity is out of question the Roman law.
14

John Garger, ‘A Brief History of the Latin Language’ (Bright Hub Education)

<www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-translating-latin/17801-brief-history-of-the-new-latin-period/>
accessed 19 March 2020
15

ibid

16

George Mousourakis, A Legal History of Rome (Routledge 2007) 182

7


1.1. The background of Roman law
It is hard to trace the exact date where Roman law began. There are a number of
reasons: lack of material evidence, overlap between law, religious and divine orders
and customs. As far as we know, the seeds of legal system might initiate during or
even before the Monarchy (753–509 B.C.).17 Again, there is no definite statement
because like the development of Roman city-state, its law gradually derived from
customary orders within the clans in the society, the customs utilized by the clans in
their interactional activities with one another18 and orders from the king (rex). It was

until the birth of Roman Republic (509–27 B.C.)19 that there was a written legal text of
law – the Laws of the Twelve Tables. This was not only the first true legislation of the
Romans but also the most important law of the Roman era. The Laws of the Twelve
Tables, which came into existence in around the middle of fifth century B.C., were
used for such a long period of time, for about a thousand years. The Romans were
hesitated to replace it with a new law so the laws kept their dominant position till the
Roman Empire time. The only thing that changed was the way to interpret the laws in
order to adapt into novel circumstances.20 Such interpretations and commentaries on
law were even considered as a source of law during the Republic, the Principate (27
B.C. to 284 A.D.)21 and early the Dominate period. Until the Dominate (284 A.D. to
565 A.D.)22, imperial law which was enacted by the king and emperor became the
dominant source of Roman law when the popular assemblies and the senate – two
bodies of legislation in the Roman Republic – were more and more influenced by the
emperor. In the reign of Justinian, Roman law was codified into four main legal texts:

Digesta, Institutes, Codex repetitae praelectionis and Novellae (collectively referred
as Corpus juris civilis of Justinian) and this is the primary sources of reference to
study and research on Roman law these days.
17

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ‘Roman law’ (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 27 March 2020)
< accessed 06 April 2020
18

George Mousourakis, A Legal History of Rome (Routledge 2007) 22

19

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ‘Roman law’ (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 27 March 2020)
< accessed 06 April 2020

20

George Mousourakis, A Legal History of Rome (Routledge 2007) 26
ibid 1
22
ibid
21

8


1.2. Contribution of Roman law
System of law: This comprises of all the laws and documents used as sources of law
by the Romans. It is admitted that the Roman law was among the most developed and
advanced in its own time. This is proven by the fact that most European legal systems
use it as the basis. Moreover, not only had it became the foundation for the civil law
system but also had great influence on the common law system via the English law. 23
It is astonishing that for thousands of years ago the Roman legislators had thought of
making use of law to regulate many relations which found the basic laws in almost all
civil legal systems later on such as family law, law on persons, law on properties,
succession, contract, etc. These promulgations covering nearly every relation and
dispute arising in the society were so diverse that even the English law – home of the
common law system – ought to borrow Roman law to deal with matters that the
national law itself had not provided.
Legal concepts and terminology: Roman law is an introduction to the study of the
Science of Law, or, as we call it, Jurisprudence. For many centuries the Science of
Law was Roman law.24 It is also by the Roman law that a number of legal concepts
were introduced and eventually became the heart of many legal systems even in the
modern time. Some of the most outstanding to be named are equity, public and private
law, and natural law. As a result, Roman jurists who invented these concepts were

fathers of the legal terms, and Latin, the language of the Romans, was considered the
language of law and legal science. It may not be too overestimated to say that Roman
law is a key to the terminology and, to a great extent, to the substance of foreign
systems.25
Above are the two heritages of the most importance that Roman law had left but its
contribution is more enormous than that. Not only Europe, the hand of Roman law
even reached to further continents where colonies of England, France, Spain, and
others were. The role of the Roman law as a universal law embodying principles of

23

Edward D Re, ‘The Roman Contribution to the Common Law’, 29 Fordham L Rev 447 (1961)
< > accessed 06 April 2020
24

George Mousourakis, A Legal History of Rome (Routledge 2007) 450

25

ibid

9


natural law applicable for all time is generally admitted.26 Today Roman law has been
replaced by modern codes but is still the common foundation upon which the
European legal order is built as well as the stable foundation on which modern legal
culture has developed and evolved upon as a whole.27 It is also because of such a great
influence of Roman law and its heritages, the Latin terms, maxims and expressions,
despite being at stake, are not extinct.

2. The use of Latin in legal system in ancient time
2.1. During the Roman Empire
The popularity of Latin language was significantly contributed by the Romans. The
reason why Latin spread so wide and so long was because the Romans brought this
language along with their conquests by the use of the army. Latin was the language of
administration, jurisdiction and military in Roman Empire. After every conquest, lands
were distributed to Roman retired soldiers and those soldiers became farmers later on.
Moreover, young people of the tribes that were conquered by the Romans were called
to serve the military force in which they were taught to use Latin and in turn, these
young soldiers made Latin known within their own tribes. Gradually, Latin turned into
the lingua franca (the common language) of not only different regions but also
different classes in the Roman society. This is what distinguished Latin from other
languages at the same time, including those that had been more popular than Latin
such as Oscan and Umbrian. By the boost of Roman Empire, Latin was the language
of everyone, of the farmers, the soldiers and the city.28
2.2. During the Middle Age
During the medieval time, the Latin-written laws and legal commentaries were open
to study again. Many principles and concepts in Roman law, especially the Corpus

juris civilis – the collection of codified laws of Emperor Justinian, were highly
appreciated and became the reference for national codes. Not only was it used as a
26

Edward D Re, ‘The Roman Contribution to the Common Law’, 29 Fordham L Rev 447 (1961)

< > accessed 06 April 2020
27
DailyHistory.org, ‘How has ancient Rome influenced European law?’ (DailyHistory.org, 22 November 2018)
< accessed 06 April 2020
28

Natalia Zecca-Naples, ‘Lingua latina omnia vincit: How Latin became the language of the Roman Empire’
(Unravel Magazine, 13 November 2015) < accessed 06 April 2020
citing Ostler, N., Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin (Walker & Company 2007) 56-57

10


reference but Roman law was also studied, analyzed and even developed by the
medieval glossators such as Azo of Bologna and Accursius who helped to bring about
new concepts in the legal field.29
Consequently, Latin was the favorite language again among legislators, jurists,
glossators and others who were concerned in legal field. In many different countries of
continental Europe such as Kingdom of Naples, Austrian Empire, Hungary, court
minutes, administrative authorities, notarial acts, judgements, etc. were drawn up in
Latin until the late of Middle Age and even early modern time. Denmark, Sweden and
Finland used Latin in legal documents until 11th to 14th centuries.30 In terms of
international transaction, it was until 17th century that French was able to take over
Latin’s position as the sole language of negotiations and treaties. The reason for this
was because of the impartial feature of Latin language considered safe for using in
inter-State relations.31
3. The use of Latin in modern legal world
In legal system, although Latin is no longer the official language used by judges,
jurists and lawyers, the terms and phrases that were invented, or used by ancient
Roman jurists remain and are given the name as Latin legalese. Lawyers prefer using
conjunction in Latin to their own language,32 and Latin expressions and maxims are
often inscribed on walls of courthouses, administrative head offices or seals and
emblems of public organs and law society. 33 Most importantly, legal concepts and
principles in their Latin forms are often quoted with the aim of most accuracy as
possible.34 The Latin terms and expressions can also function as guarantors for
international understandability of legal texts mostly in international organizations, and

international commercial arbitration.35

29

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , ‘Medieval Roman law’ (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 20 January 2020)
< accessed 06 April 2020
30
31
32
33

Heikki E S Mattila, Comparative legal linguistics (Christopher Goddard tr, Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2006) 131
ibid 129
ibid 140
ibid 141

34

ibid 143

35

ibid 144

11


In common law system countries, it is unsurprising that Latin words and phrases are
still found useful by judges at the court. In the system where precedent is central, a
case of the previous centuries when Latin was still the official language of court can

possibly be taken as references for a subject matter in present. Therefore, having some
wisdom of the language is surely beneficial for officers of the court. In the European
Union, Latin terms, phrases and maxims are welcomed the most. If you take a look at
a recent Official Journal of European Union, the journal no. C 161 issued in May 2020
reporting cases of the member states for example, ad hoc, de facto, ultra vires, delict,
quasi-delict, res judicata, etc. show up naturally in the parties’ pleadings like a native
language. The same goes with the legislation. In decision no 1/2020 of the EPA
committee36 adopting the rules of procedure for mediation, the rules of procedure for
arbitration, and the code of conduct for arbitrators on 28 April, 2020, interim, ex parte,
mutatis mutandis, amicus curiae can be easily spotted.37
In the international scenario, Latin is even more familiar than in some domestic
codes. Multilateral treaties usually contain at least one or two Latin terms in its body,
whether such terms perform as injunctions or legal terms and maxims. The language is
particularly embraced by many judges of the International Court of Justice. From the
year 2010 to 2019, the Court heard and gave advisory opinions for 31 cases and 307
separate declarations and opinions by the judges were presented, in which
approximately 300 different Latin terms, maxims and expressions were counted. In
private international law, sales of goods or commercial contracts utilize Latin as well
but with a less intensity, specifically in such clauses as arbitration and force majeure.
However, due to the fact that civil services are increasing and there are more and
more people with poor legal knowledge are involved in those processes, a campaign to
omit the complicated and hard-to-understand legalese which can be called the plain
language campaign is growing. It actually does have some effects on the use of Latin
terms and expressions now and in fact, there are more and more legal documents
36

The EPA committee is a body set up by the Interim agreement with a view to an economic partnership
agreement between the European Community and its member states, of the one part, and the Central Africa
Party, of the other part
37

Decision no 1/2020 of the EPA committee set up by the interim agreement with a view to an economic
partnership agreement between the European Community and its member states, of the one part, and the Central
Africa Party, of the other part, of 28 April 2020 adopting the rules of procedure for mediation, the rules of
procedure for arbitration, and the code of conduct for arbitrators [2020] OJ L 156/22

12


written in plain language as a response to this campaign. Nevertheless, it is still far
from saying that Latin has completely disappeared in the legal culture.
4. Plain language and its possibilities to replace the use of Latin legalese
In short definition, plain language is a way of expression that make a lay person
who has no professional knowledge of the subject being discussed understand at the
first time they read or hear it.38 Plain language is strongly advised for governmental
regulations, administrative documents and legal writings, all of them are famous for
complicated structure, difficult terms and even alien language to an ordinary person. It
is hard to deny that plain language campaign has received a considerable support from
the public as it eases the communication between people with the States and even
more and more lawyers are more willing to use plain language not only in
conversation with the clients but also in legal drafting.
The foremost aim of plain language is to make a lay person understand a piece of
writing easily at the first glance. In contrast, Latin language is not as well-known as it
used to be and many, including law professionals, find it too difficult for normal
people to understand even just a short term. Therefore, Latin is one among many
features in legal writing that are urged to be omitted. In an attempt to replace Latin
legalese with plain language, lawyers, legislators, and judges are encouraged to use the
English equivalents or explanations for Latin terms and expressions. However, is this
an optimum method? Will Latin legalese be totally washed away in legal drafting of
all kinds? It is too soon to make any conclusion. What we do know for now is that
Latin language has long been the root of legal science. The importance of the language

is both reflected in the laws and in the minds of those who study laws. There are three
good reasons to support the idea that Latin will probably survive in the world legal
system for quite some more time.
4.1. Civil law system, concepts and principles
We have learnt that the Romans gave birth to many basic concepts and principles in
the jurisprudence and the Roman law itself is among the oldest and most essential
legal foundations in the world. We also know that the influence of Roman law was not
38

Plainlanguage.gov, ‘What is plain language?’ (Plainlanguage.gov)
< accessed 06 April 2020

13


merely in a single state or single continent. Roman law was among the legal systems
that had the widest range of impact in the world. Nearly all European countries more
or less are in debt to Roman law and Latin language. In fact, the majority of Europeans
countries now such as France, Germany, Spain, and Italy are running under civil law
system and their national laws have base mainly on the Roman law. Even other foreign
states from continents of Asia, Africa and American have borrowed its values and
incorporated to their own laws. Examples of those basic concepts are:
Ius civile
The civil law. At first, it was used as a synonym of private law but with a narrower
sense, and it dealt with the Roman citizens’ rights and duties. In the Middle Age, the
term was imposed to Roman law in order to distinguish from other legal system such
as Common law and Canon law.39
Ius publicum and ius privatum
The public and private law. It is needless to say anymore what public law and
private law are. They have always been the most fundamental concepts both in

national and international law. The interesting thing is that the Romans were aware of
distinguishing between two areas of law in a very early age, as early as the issuance of
the Laws of the Twelve Tables. The Romans more focused on private law than public
law and many of their regulations were reserved civil law tradition in continental
Europe.40 On the other hand, their public law inspired political thinkers and legislators,
including the writers of the Constitution of the United States.41
Ius naturale
The natural law. The theory of natural law was delivered by Cicero with an
inspiration from great Greek philosophers Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. According
to Cicero, the law could not be derived from the statutes of the governors but it
represents rational principles, inherent in nature, that enjoin what ought to be done and

39

Rafael Domingo, ‘Roman Law: Basic Concepts and Values’ (2017) SSRN Electronic Journal
< > accessed 06 April 2020
40

ibid

41

ibid

14


forbid the opposite. It is a natural force which drives man to tell what is right and
wrong, what is justice and injustice.42
So long as these concepts and principles are deemed vital to the legal science and

legal systems still function dependently on them, the study of Latin language to
research and analyze on ancient Roman works is inevitable. In addition, the benefit of
Latin terms can be seen in international scale as well. It is not strange when many legal
concepts and principles of the Roman law were adopted in many countries around the
world. As a result, Latin terms became widely familiar and understandable to lawyers
from various parts in the planet. This helps to ease the communications between
lawyers who come from different nations to some extent because they have a common
language, legal Latin, and at least the burden of translation is reduced.
4.2. Irreplaceable terms and expressions
Even though English, French and other modern languages these days have
borrowed a lot of words in the legal subject from Latin and many Latin legal terms
have an alternative in these languages, some terms still cannot be translated or have a
synonym with the exact meaning. Such terms can only be given an explanation or a
definition of what it means. The point is that the definition for them in many cases is
long and consequently making the documents unnecessarily lengthy, especially when
those texts are used in professional context where every writer, reader and listener
have the knowledge of what it means already.
There is also another situation in which Latin term does have an English version.
However, even with the English term, the true meaning is still vague with those with
poor legal knowledge. In such cases, between the Latin and English term with
approximate vagueness, the Latin normally will be in more favor to lawyers and
judges. The explanation for this will be discussed in the following.
4.3. Habitual use among the legal communities
In the European cultural tradition, expressions and maxims from the classical
languages raise the level of the text and add splendor to it.43 Latin has always been
crowned as the language of science, especially the science of law. From the archaic
42

ibid

43

Heikki E S Mattila, Comparative legal linguistics (Christopher Goddard tr, Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2006) 140

15


time in city of Rome to the medieval period and even up to 19th century, Latin had
been considered as a noble language, the language of scholars and intellectuals. So it is
always the habit of lawyers and legal scholars to use Latin terms and expressions as
the matter of formality. Moreover, in our modern society, lawyers, jurists, judges, such
people still receive great respect from the public. They themselves are highly proud of
their achievements as well. By using Latin expressions and maxims, a lawyer sets out
to show his professional competence in front of his clients, or his colleagues. 44 Thus,
apparently using Latin terms and expressions will probably be embraced as a sign of
pride and honor.
It is as well worth mentioning that the citations of old Latin documents such as
legislation, case law, private documents are often seen, especially in legal science. A
famous legislation that appears in legal textbooks many times, the Magna Carta is an
excellent example. In legal practice, particularly in common law system, case law is a
fundamental source and there are some cases dating back to the previous centuries
where Latin use was still a common sense. Thus, using Latin terms is not merely a
study in the jurisprudence but a demanded skill for any practicing judges and
advocates too. Moreover, since most Latin terms and expressions are the original
forms of legal concepts and principles and they are familiar and understandable in
many countries, they are preferable in using for international documents and
transactions for their neutrality and preciseness. All in all, Latin is tightly bound to the
legal system operation and development and from the legal standpoint, it might be
harder to alter the Latin words with a more modern and active language than try to
understand the Latin terms themselves.

44

ibid 136

16


CHAPTER III: LATIN TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS –
DEFINITIONS AND USAGE
1. Common legal Latin terms and expressions
Comprehension of Latin terms and expressions is inevitable in order to read and use
them correctly and effectively in legal writing. However, due to the limitation of a
graduate thesis and wide variety of legal Latin terms and expressions, it is impossible
for the author to list out all the terms across all areas of law in all legal systems
Therefore, this chapter will introduce some common terms that law students are likely
to encounter the most during their practice and studies, namely in international law and
partly in English and American law system. This part is made to help students
understand Latin legalese when reading legal materials. Furthermore, it is hoped that
students will be able to distinguish between terms that seem alike and avoid any
mistakes regarding punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc. when they use this foreign
language in their own writing.

1. AB (prep): From, away from, by. The word was adopted into English as a prefix
with the meaning of “away from” a space, distance, time and so on. But as the
original Latin word, it is a preposition, and a phrase containing ab means “place
from which”. It is used when referring to a place which acts as a source, origin of
something in the sentence.
Ab initio adv From the beginning.
E.g.: [The Congo] contends that there is indeed a legal dispute between the Parties, in

that the Congo claims that the arrest warrant was issued in violation of the immunity
of its Minister for Foreign Affairs, that that warrant was unlawful ab initio, and that
this legal defect persists despite the subsequent changes in the position occupied by the
individual concerned.45
Ab invito adv From unwilling person, against one’s will.

45

Arrest Warrant of 1 I April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium), Judgement [2002] ICJ rep 3
para 25

17


E.g.: The following excerpts, as illustrations, from Valluzzi’s testimony, will not be
amiss at this time as corroborating proof that, so far as defendant was concerned,
Valluzzi’s status as proctor counsel for defendant by uninvited devolution, was solely
a representation ab invito.46
2. ACTIO (n): Interestingly, this is the Latin equivalent with the English word
“action” and similar to the English fellow, it has various meanings: action, legal
process, suit, act, etc. The term’s plural form is actiones. It first appeared in the
Roman procedural law where it indicated the right of the plaintiff to bring a suit
before the court.47 From thereon, the term has been used to refer to litigation or an
initiation of a lawsuit.
Actio criminalis n A criminal action.48
Actio damni injuria n An action for damages.49
Actio de judicato n An action to seek for a judgement for a dispute rather than an
advisory opinion.50
E.g.: [P]rocedure has developed, the existence of purely declaratory awards has come
to be admitted, especially in Germany and the United States: the applicant is contentfor some reason-to have his right declared, without desiring that it shall subsequently

be rendered effective; at the same time, however, he retains the right to bring another
action of a purely executory nature: actio de judicato.51
3. ACTUS REUS (n): Guilty act, the physical conduct that constitutes a crime. This
is one of the two basic components to identify a criminal offense. The other
component is mens rea. The two terms came about in Sir Edward Coke’s definition
of murder in the Institutes of the Laws of England in 17th century. In his definition
which is still applicable in present, Sir Edward Coke laid out six elements to prove
the offence of murder including: the unlawful killing, of a human being, by an act
or omission, which results in the death of that human being, within the Queen’s
46

People v Betillo 53 Misc 2d 540 (1967) (New York Supreme Court)
Oxford University Press, ‘Du Plessis: Borkowski's Textbook on Roman Law 5e’ (Oxford University Press
online resources centre) < accessed
12 May 2020
48
Gordon W Brown and Kent D Kauffman, Legal terminology (6th ed, Pearson 2013) 428
49
ibid
50
Aaron X Fellmeth & Maurice Horwitz, Guide to Latin in international law (Oxford University Press 2009) 10
51
Corfu Channel case, Dissenting opinion by Judge Azevedo [1949] ICJ Rep 4
47

18


Peace (all five elements were collectively referred as actus reus), and with malice
aforethought (which was referred as mens rea).52

4. AD (prep): With, towards, for, to. This is one of the most popular prepositions in
Latin language and probably among the handiest ones as well. Ad usually appears in
phrases expressing purposes and places. When present in a phrase of location, ad
points the direction toward such location, not away from it.
Ad hoc adj For a special purpose. Someone or something selected or designated for a
special purpose, such as an ad hoc committee; also used to describe an act done at the
spur of the moment, such as an ad hoc solution or an ad hoc demonstration.53
E.g.: The Seabed Disputes Chamber shall form an ad hoc chamber, composed of three
of its members, for dealing with a particular dispute submitted to it in accordance with
article 188, paragraph 1(b).54
Ad infinitum adj, adv To infinite, to an infinite degree or without limit.
E.g.: National regulations often lay down restrictions as to the number and tonnage of
ships, the repetition of visits, etc. ; this is evidence of the menacing character of
warships, and serves to controvert the erroneous argument that if one ship is admitted,
a second must also be allowed and then a third and a fourth, ad infinitum.55
Ad hominem adj To a man. Directed to an individual personally, especially made with
insulting intent or without relevance to the issue under consideration.56
E.g.: First, the appellants submit that since the criterion relating to the link with IRISL
expressly named that entity, it had to be considered an ad hominem criterion, so that
the Council was under an obligation to inform them of the amendments it envisaged
making and to enable them to submit their observations.57
Ad valorem adv For the value. This term is often used in tax law. It indicates that the
tax of a certain good, property or service is calculated upon its value.

52

Lucid law, ‘Homicide – Murder’ (Lucid law) < />accessed 12 May 2020
53
Lazar Emanuel, LATIN FOR LAWYERS The Language of the Law (Emanuel Publishing Corp 1999) 12
54

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (adopted 10 December 1982, entered into force 16
November 1994) 1833 UNTS 3 art 36
55
Corfu Channel case, Dissenting opinion by Judge Azevedo [1949] ICJ Rep 4
56
Aaron X Fellmeth & Maurice Horwitz, Guide to Latin in international law (Oxford University Press 2009) 18
57
Case C-225/17 P Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and Others v Council of the European Union [2019]
EU:C:2019:82

19