Definition
XXXV is the Roman numeral representation of the integer thirty-five. In legal contexts, it functions exclusively as a positional or enumerative marker — most commonly used to number sections, articles, clauses, amendments, or paragraphs within legal instruments, codes, constitutions, and treatises. It carries no independent legal meaning of its own; its significance in any given document depends entirely on the provision it designates.
Common Confusion
Researchers should not confuse a Roman numeral section marker with a defined legal term. XXXV has no doctrinal content. If a search or index returns XXXV as an entry, the relevant inquiry is always: XXXV of what instrument, and what does that provision say? The numeral is a pointer, not a rule.
Why It Matters in Research
Roman numeral section references appear throughout historical legal literature, and XXXV (35) is no exception. Researchers working in older treatises, early American legal texts, or classical common law sources will encounter Roman numeral enumeration where modern editions substitute Arabic numerals. The same underlying provision may therefore appear as "§ XXXV" in an original source and "§ 35" in a modern reprint or annotation — a discrepancy that can cause researchers to miss parallel references when searching across editions.
The Burrill source fragment associated with this entry references Story on Agency, § 25, and Selwyn's Nisi Prius alongside passages from Littleton and Coke on Littleton, all in the context of disclaimers in pais versus disclaimers of record, and the recoverability of premiums on illegal insurance contracts. This suggests the fragment is drawn from a section of Burrill's dictionary that uses XXXV as a structural marker — likely a footnote cluster or cross-reference block — rather than as a defined legal term. Researchers should treat the surrounding substantive material (disclaimer, pais, illegal insurance, premium recovery) as the operative legal content, not the numeral itself.
When tracing a legal instrument by section number, always verify whether the original used Roman or Arabic numerals. Codifications and subsequent editions frequently renumber provisions, and a XXXV in one version may not correspond to § 35 in another if sections were added, removed, or reorganized in the interim.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary does not define XXXV as a substantive legal term. The appearance of the numeral in the source material reflects its use as an organizational device within the dictionary's apparatus — a section reference or cross-reference anchor pointing toward other authorities. The substantive legal content visible in the Burrill fragment concerns the distinction between disclaimer in pais and disclaimer of record (citing Littleton § 695 and Co. Litt. 364a) and the doctrine that premiums paid on illegal insurance contracts cannot be recovered even when the underwriter cannot be compelled to pay the loss (citing 1 East). These are real legal propositions found in the historical record; XXXV is simply the structural label under which Burrill organized or referenced that material.
Historical legal dictionaries and treatises of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries commonly used Roman numerals for section enumeration through at least the mid-1800s, after which Arabic numeral conventions became dominant in English and American legal publishing.