QUILIBET

2 definitions found across Law Mind sources

← Dictionary
QUILIBETAuthored
The Law Mind • 641 words
Definition
A Latin term meaning "any person," "anyone whatsoever," or "each and every person." In legal usage, *quilibet* functions as a universal quantifier — referring to any individual member of a class or the public at large, without restriction or distinction. It appears most often in maxims and doctrinal formulations where a rule is stated to apply without exception to all persons who fall within its scope. The term carries the force of universality: not merely "some person" or "a particular person," but any person to whom the legal proposition could attach. ---
Why It Matters in Research
*Quilibet* appears almost exclusively in Latin maxims embedded in older common law treatises, reports, and digests. Researchers encountering the term will find it functioning as a rhetorical and logical intensifier within a maxim rather than as a standalone operative legal term. Its significance lies in reading the maxim correctly: a proposition framed with *quilibet* is asserting a universal rule, not a particular or discretionary one. When researching pre-19th century sources — Year Books, early English reports, institutional writers such as Coke or Bracton — *quilibet* signals that the author is articulating a general principle of law meant to bind all persons equally. Misreading it as a reference to a specific party or a limited class will distort the meaning of the maxim. Researchers working in the Law Mind corpus should note that *quilibet* is unlikely to appear as a headword in most historical dictionaries; instead, it surfaces inside the body of maxim collections and civil law commentaries. The Digest of Justinian and related civilian sources use *quilibet* frequently, and English common lawyers borrowed the term when invoking Roman-derived principles. The absence of *quilibet* as a discrete entry in many legal dictionaries — including Rapalje & Lawrence, which treats neighboring maxims but not this term as a standalone entry — reflects how the word was treated: as functional Latin vocabulary assumed to be understood by any trained lawyer, rather than a term of art requiring definition. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
Rapalje & Lawrence (1883) does not carry *quilibet* as an independent headword. The surrounding entries in the corpus — maxims beginning with *quicquid* — illustrate the conventions of the genre: short Latin phrases followed by English translations and citation to Roman law (the Digest) or early English reports. *Quilibet* appears within maxims in this tradition rather than receiving its own treatment. This omission is characteristic of 19th-century American and English legal dictionaries, which tended to index Latin phrases by their opening word. A maxim containing *quilibet* mid-phrase would not be found under that term but under whatever word opened the maxim. Researchers using historical dictionaries should search for the full maxim or its leading word, not for *quilibet* alone. Civil law glossaries and Roman law commentaries treat *quilibet* more directly, as it is a common term of art in the Digest and Institutes. For corpus work that spans common law and civilian sources, awareness of this split treatment is essential. ---
Jurisdictional Note
*Quilibet* is not a term of domestic statutory or case law in any modern jurisdiction. Its relevance is confined to historical common law materials, civilian legal sources, and maxim literature. No jurisdictional variation applies in the modern sense. ---
Related Terms
Quisquis — a closely related Latin universal pronoun ("whoever")used similarly in maxims to denote any person without exception Omnes — "all persons"; used in maxims with a similar universalizing function but with a collective rather than distributive sense Legal maxim — the genre in which *quilibet* most commonly appears Surplusage — a concept illustrated by the neighboring *quicquid* maxims in the Rapalje & Lawrence corpusand relevant to understanding how universal statements in legal drafting are construed Civilians / Civil law — the tradition in which *quilibet* receives its most systematic treatment
QUILIBETmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883
(1055) Quicquid demonstratæ rei additur satis demonstratæ frustra est (D. 33, 4, 1,8): Whatever is added to demonstrate anything already sufficiently demonstrated, is surplusage. Quicquid est contra normam recti, est injuria (3 Bulst. 313): Whatever is against the rule of right, is a wrong. Quicquid in excessu actum est, lege prohibetur (2 Inst. 107): Whatever is done in excess is prohibited by law. Quicquid judicis auctoritati subjicitur, novitati non subjicitur (4 Inst. 66): Whatever is subjected to the authority of a judge is not subjected to novelty. Quicquid plantatur solo, solo cedit (Office of Exec. 57): Whatever is affixed to the soil, belongs to the soil. The principle of this rule is stringently adhered to as between the heir-at-law, and executor of a deceased person, and as between mortgagors and mortgagees; but it has been very considerably relaxed in its application to fixtures as between landlord and tenant. See FIXTURES. Quicquid solvitur, solvitur secundum modum solventis, quicquid recipitur, recipitur secundum modum recipientis (2 Vern. 606): Whatever money is paid, is paid according to the direction of the payer, whatever money received, is received according to that of the recipient. The debtor has the first right to appropriate payment to whatever debt, due to his creditor, he chooses at the time of making the payment. If the debtor omit to do so, the creditor has the next right of appropriation to what debt he chooses. If neither party makes appropriation the law makes it-generally to the earlier debt. Quicunque habet jurisdictionem ordinariam est illius loci ordinarius (Co. Litt. 344): Whoever has an ordinary jurisdiction is ordinary of that place. Quicunque jussu judicis aliquid fecerit non videtur dolo malo fecisse, quia parere necesse est (10 Co. 71): Whoever does anything by the command of a judge, is not reckoned to have done it with an evil intent, because it is necessary to obey. QUID JURIS CLAMAT.-A real action by which the grantee of a reversion or remainder expectant on an estate for life could compel the tenant for life to attorn to him. (Shep. Touch. 254.) It was abolished by Stat. 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 27, 36. See ATTORN-

Explore the full Law Mind legal research platform.

SubscribeEncyclopediaSign In
The Law Mind Legal Dictionary. This is a legal research library, not a lawyer.
Dictionary • Encyclopedia • Sign In