Definition
Latin: "while he shall conduct himself well." A phrase expressing the condition or tenure by which certain offices are held — specifically, that the holder may continue in office indefinitely, for life if they choose, so long as their conduct remains satisfactory. The office terminates not at the will of the appointing authority, not upon expiration of a fixed term, but only upon the death, resignation, or misconduct of the incumbent.
The phrase functions as a term of art in public law and property law, describing a tenure standard rather than a fixed duration. Applied to judicial and quasi-judicial offices, it is the classical expression of what modern constitutional law calls tenure during good behavior — the structural guarantee of judicial independence central to Article III of the United States Constitution.
In its older property law context, dum bene se gesserit described the implied condition on which feudal grants were originally made: the grantee held so long as he performed his obligations and behaved faithfully toward his lord. Blackstone identifies this as the foundational condition of the feud or fee before tenure was converted to simple absolute ownership.
---
Common Confusion
Dum bene se gesserit is frequently paired with — and must be distinguished from — durante bene placito, meaning "during good pleasure." The two phrases describe opposite tenure relationships. Durante bene placito offices are held entirely at the will of the appointing power and terminate whenever that power chooses. Dum bene se gesserit offices are insulated from removal at will; the appointing power cannot revoke the appointment simply because it wishes to. Conflating the two produces fundamental errors in analyzing judicial independence, royal prerogative in historical sources, and the constitutional design of life-tenured courts. The contrast between these two Latin phrases is the conceptual axis around which centuries of debate over judicial independence turned.
---
Why It Matters in Research
This term is the key to researching judicial tenure and judicial independence across the common law tradition. Researchers working in any period before the mid-twentieth century will encounter it regularly in debates over the structure of courts, the removal of judges, and the scope of executive power over officeholders.
Several research traps are worth flagging:
First, scope creep in historical sources. In early common and English law, dum bene se gesserit described tenure for a wide range of officers beyond judges — including certain ecclesiastical positions, some colonial appointments, and even feudal land grants. Modern usage is largely confined to judicial tenure. Historical sources must be read with awareness of which context is operative.
Second, the constitutional valence of the phrase shifts across jurisdictions. In federal constitutional law, Article III tenure "during good behaviour" is understood to mean life tenure removable only by impeachment — a specific, high-threshold process. In state constitutions and statutes, the phrase may appear alongside fixed terms or removal procedures that differ materially from the federal model. A state court described as holding office dum bene se gesserit may not enjoy the same protections as a federal Article III judge.
Third, researchers tracing the history of English judicial independence will find the phrase at the center of the transition from durante bene placito to dum bene se gesserit tenure for royal judges — a shift consolidated by the Act of Settlement of 1701. Sources before that period will often describe judicial appointments under the pleasure standard, and the contrast with good behavior tenure is the organizing historical issue.
Fourth, the phrase connects to impeachment research. Because dum bene se gesserit tenure is only terminable for misconduct, defining what constitutes misconduct — and who determines it — is the contested question. Corpus researchers will find this phrase adjacent to materials on judicial impeachment, address procedures (legislative removal short of impeachment), and the definition of "good behavior" as a legal standard.
---
Historical Dictionary Support
The three shelf sources agree on core meaning but vary in emphasis and context.
Black's Law Dictionary focuses on the administrative and structural dimension: an office held dum bene se gesserit is not dependent on the pleasure of the appointing power and has no fixed expiration, terminating only on death or misconduct. This is the formulation most useful for constitutional and public law research.
Rapalje & Lawrence supplies the critical contrast with durante bene placito, explicitly identifying the distinction as the defining feature of the tenure type. This comparative framing is the most useful entry point for a researcher trying to understand why the phrase matters.
Burrill's Law Dictionary reaches furthest back, citing Blackstone's Commentaries (2 Bl. Com. 252) for the proposition that dum bene se gesserit was the implied condition of the original feudal grant — the condition on which a feud or fee was given before that condition was progressively eroded or extinguished. Burrill also cross-references quamdiu bene se gesserint, the plural form applicable to bodies of officers rather than a single incumbent. Researchers working in property or feudal law contexts should note this older layer of meaning that the other dictionaries largely omit.
None of the historical dictionaries address the modern American constitutional context in depth, and none engage the question of what constitutes actionable misconduct under a good behavior standard — the contested frontier that remains unresolved in federal law.
---
Jurisdictional Note
Federal Article III judges hold tenure under the "good behaviour" clause of the Constitution, which has been understood to mean effective life tenure removable only through the impeachment process. Many state constitutions use similar language but pair it with different removal mechanisms — including legislative address (removal by legislative vote without impeachment) or fixed terms with reappointment — producing a materially different tenure structure despite similar Latin phrasing in historical materials.
---