UBI NON EST MANIFESTA - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

UBI NON EST MANIFESTAAuthored

The Law Mind • 647 words

Definition

A Latin maxim in legal interpretation meaning, in full: *ubi non est manifesta iniuria, iudex non debet esse enim in iure neque in aequitate — where the injury is not manifest, the judge ought not to be strict either in law or in equity.* The phrase is most commonly cited in its abbreviated form and stands for the principle that where no clear wrong or ambiguity is apparent on the face of a legal instrument or situation, a court should not strain to impose a strict or harsh construction. It is a canon of statutory and contractual interpretation counseling judicial restraint when the text does not plainly reveal an injustice demanding correction.

Common Confusion

Researchers occasionally conflate this maxim with *ubi jus ibi remedium* (where there is a right, there is a remedy), which operates in the opposite direction: it pushes courts toward providing relief wherever a legal right exists. *Ubi non est manifesta* counsels restraint when harm is unclear; *ubi jus ibi remedium* counsels action where right is established. Conflating the two inverts the interpretive posture each was meant to support.

Why It Matters in Research

This maxim appears rarely as a standalone headword in legal dictionaries and far more often embedded within broader discussions of interpretation canons, particularly in equity treatises and older common law commentary. Researchers should not expect to find it indexed directly in most secondary sources; it surfaces instead in footnotes, maxim collections, and judicial opinions addressing construction of ambiguous instruments.

The phrase belongs to a cluster of Latin interpretive maxims that shaped equity jurisdiction before codification narrowed the field. In historical sources predating the mid-nineteenth century, maxims of this type carried genuine doctrinal weight as gap-filling tools; in modern sources, they function more as rhetorical ornament. A researcher encountering this phrase in an older equity opinion or chancery record should treat it as a signal that the court was invoking interpretive restraint, not a discrete legal rule, and should look to the surrounding context to understand the actual holding.

Corpus researchers working in pre-twentieth-century materials will find this maxim grouped with similar restraint canons, including *ubi lex non distinguit* and *ubi jus ibi remedium*. It is most likely to appear in equity proceedings, will and testament construction disputes, and cases involving ambiguous conveyances — contexts where courts historically had the broadest latitude to choose between strict and liberal readings.

The abbreviated form *ubi non est manifesta* creates an indexing trap: different sources complete the maxim differently, and researchers searching for the full phrase may miss truncated versions and vice versa. Cross-referencing maxim collections (Broom's Legal Maxims, Bouvier's Law Dictionary) alongside full-text search is advisable.

Historical Dictionary Support

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) does not carry a dedicated entry for *ubi non est manifesta* in the digitized source material provided. The relevant U-section excerpt in Black's moves directly from abbreviations to *uberrima fides* without including this maxim as a headword. This absence is itself informative: Black's 2nd edition (1910) was selective in its coverage of Latin maxims, favoring those with active common law application over those principally encountered in equity or civilian-influenced treatises. The omission suggests the maxim had already retreated from routine common law usage by the early twentieth century, surviving primarily in scholarly commentary and equity-inflected practice.

Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Broom's *A Selection of Legal Maxims* are the more productive historical shelf sources for this phrase. Broom, in particular, organized maxims by their interpretive function and would have situated this one within the chapter on equitable construction — a useful structural cue for researchers navigating pre-modern treatise literature.

UBI NON EST MANIFESTAmain

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910

U -U. B. An abbreviation for “Upper Bench.” U. Cc. An abbreviation for “Upper Canada,” used in citing the reports. U. BR. Initials of “uti rogas,” be it as you desire, a ballot thus inscribed. by which the Romans voted in favor of a bill or candidate. Tayl. Civil Law, 191. U. 8S. An abbreviation for “United States.” -‘UBERRIMA FIDES. Lat. The most abundant good faith; absolute and perfect eandor or openness and honesty; the absence of any concealment or deception, however slight. i Ubi aliquid conceditur, conceditur et id sime quo res ipsa esse non potest. When anything is granted, that also is granted without which the thing granted cannot exist. Broom, Max. 483; 13 Mees. & W. 706. Ubi aliquid impeditur propter unum, eo. remoto, tollitur impedimentum. Where anything is impeded by one single cauge, if that be removed, the impediment is removed. Branch, Princ., citing 5 Core Ta, ‘Ubi cessat remedium ordinarium, ibi decurritur ad extraordinarium. Where the ordinary remedy fails, recourse must be had to an extraordinary one. 4 Coke, 920. Ubi culpa est, ibi pena subesse debet. Where the crime is committed, there ought the punishment to be undergone. Jenk. Cent. 325. ' Ubi damna dantur, victus victori in expensis condemnari debet. Where damages are given, the vanquished party ought to be condemned in costs to the victor. 2 Inst. 289. : Ubi eadem ratio, ibi eadem lex; et de similibus idem est judicium. 7 Coke, 18. Where the same reason exists, there the same law prevails; and; of things similar, the judgment is similar. Ubi e€ dantis et accipientis turpitudo versatur, non posse repeti dicimus; quotiens autem accipientis turpitude versatur, repeti posse. Where there is turpitude on the part of both giver and receiver, we say it cannot be recovered back; but as often as the turpitude fs on the side of the receiver [alone] it can be recovered back. Mason v. Waite, 17 Mass. 562. Ubi factum nullum, ibi fortia nulla. Where there is no principal fact, there can be no accessory. 4 Coke, 426. Ubi jus, fbi remedium. Where there is a right, there is a remedy. Broom, Max. 191, 204; 1 Term R. 512; Co. Litt. 1970. Ubi jus imcertum, ibi jus nullam. Where the law is uncertain, there is no law. Ubi lex aliquem cogit ostendere causam, necesse est quod causa sit justa et legitima. Where the law compels 4 man to show cause, it is necessary that the cnuse be just and lawful. 2 Inst. 289. Ubi lex est specialis, ect ratio ejus gen-. eralis, generaliter accipienda est. 2 Inst. 43. Where the law is special, and the reason of it general, it ought to be taken az being general. Ubi lex non distinguit, neo nos distinguere debemus. Where the law does not distinguish, neither ought we to distinguish. 7 Coke, 5b. . Ubi major pars est, ibi totum. Where the greater part is, there the whole is. That is, majorities govern. Moore, 578, : Ubi non adest norma legis, omnia quasi pro suspectis habenda sunt. When the law fails to serve as a rule, almost everything ought to be suspected. Bac. Aphorisms, 25. Ubi non est annua renovatio, ibi decimse non debent solvi. Where there is no annual renovation, there tithes ought no! to be paid. Ubi non est condendi auctoritas, ibi mon est parendi necessitas. Dav. Ir. K. B. 69. Where there is no authority for establishing a rule, there is no necessity of obeying it. Ubi non est directa lex, standum est arbitrio judicis, wel procedendum ad similia. -Ellesm. Post. N. 41. Where there is no direct law, the opinion of the judge is to be taken, or references to be made to similar cases. Ubi non est lex, ibi non est transgressio, quoad mundum. Where there is no law, there is no transgression, so far as relates to the world. 4 Coke, 16D. Ubi non est manifesta injustitia, judices habentur pro bonis viris, et judicatum pro veritate. Where there is no manifest injustice, the judges are to be re garded as honest men, and their judgment as truth. Goix v. Low, 1 Johns. Cas. (N. Y.) 341, 345.

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