UBI JUS IBI REMEDIUM
UBI JUS IBI REMEDIUM
Meaning of the maxim
Closely connected with the topics of damnum (actual damage) and injuria (legal harm) is the maxim ubi jus ibi remedium. The maxim means that “whenever there is a legal right, there is a legal remedy”, or as it is sometimes expressed, “there is no wrong without a remedy”. ‘Jus’ means the legal authority to do or demand something, and 'remedium' means right of action in a Court of law. The principle is that if a man has a right he must, of necessity, have a means to vindicate or maintain it, and a remedy, if he is injured in the exercise or employment of it; and it is a vain thing to imagine a right without a remedy, for want of right and want of remedy are reciprocal. It must not be forgotten that in such a case, both the right infringed and the remedy sought should be legal.
In a way, the law of
torts owes its development to this maxim. However, the maxim does not lay down
that there is a legal remedy for every wrong. There are many moral and
political wrongs which are not recognised by law and are therefore not
actionable. A cruel war may raze houses to the ground, or oppressive
legislation may reduce men to moral slavery, or a contract required to be made
on a stamped paper may be made orally;- in all these cases, irreparable harm
may be caused, and yet, a legal remedy may not be available. Thus, the maxim
does not mean that there is a legal remedy for every moral or political wrong.
It has, therefore, aptly been remarked by Justice Stephen (in an English case)
that the maxim would be more intelligibly and correctly stated if it were to be
reversed to say that "where there is no legal remedy, there is no legal
wrong."
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