Ignorantia juris non excusat

In law, ignorantia juris non excusat (Latin for "ignorance of the law excuses not"),Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, pg. 672 or ignorantia legis neminem excusat ("ignorance of law excuses no one"),Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, pg. 673 is the legal principle that it is not always possible for someone to be seen as innocent simply because he or she does not know the law.

Origin

This principle is said to have originated from Ancient Greece.

Basis

ignorantia juris non excusat is said to have been invented for ensuring that laymen could not avoid consequences for their wrongdoings with the excuse of "not knowing the law". It is assumed that some intentionally keep themselves ignorant of the law in the hope that they would not be held liable for anything (willful ignorance). 

The principle also presumes that those who do wrongs know something about their behavior's nature under the law as long as the law is made public, either by government gazette or over the internet. Whether the law applies to them, it depends on where they live in and whether the law has been made known to them in reasonable ways.

Applications

This principle has been adopted by some countries. For instance,

 Brazil: 
 Article 3rd of the Law of Introduction to Brazilian Law Norms.Law-Decree 4.657 (compiled), Law of Introduction to Brazilian Law Norms.
 Article 21 of the Brazilian Penal Code.Law-Decree 2.848 (compiled), Brazilian Criminal Code.

 Canada: Criminal Code, section 19Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-34, s 19.

 Philippines: Republic Act No. 386 Civil Code of the Philippines, Article 3

Criminal law

Ignorance may not free someone of their guilt, but it can be a reason for a judge (known as sheriff in Scotland) to give someone a less serious sentence.

Examples

Canada had a criminal case where someone was charged with owning gambling devices illegally after being advised by customs officials that it was legal to bring them into Canada.R v Potter (1978), 39 CCC (2d) 538, 3 CR (3d) 154 (PEISC). Despite the person being found guilty, the person was not given any punishments but an absolute discharge ‒ an unconditional discharge by which the court finds that a crime has technically been committed but that any punishment of the defendant would be inappropriate and the case is closed.

Related pages

 List of Latin phrases
 Ancient Greek philosophy

References

Category:Law
Category:Legal terms
Category:Latin phrases
Category:Latin words and phrases
Category:Latin words used in English