Regulæ Juris,[1] also spelledRegulae iuris (Latin for 'Rules of Law'), werelegal maxims which served asjurisprudence inRoman law.[2]
The term is also a generic term for general rules or principles of theinterpretation of canon laws of theCatholic Church; in this context, they remain principles of law used in interpretingCatholic canon law, despite no longer having any binding forces of law since the1917 Code of Canon Lawabrogated them[citation needed].
There are 211Regulae iuris. The firstRegula iuris from this corpus is from the 3rd-centuryjurisconsultPaulus; it is: "The law is not drawn from the rule [regula], rather it is the rule which comes from the law."[3]
In a specific sense, however,regulae juris are certain fundamental laws in the form oflegal maxims memorialized in theCorpus Iuris Canonici, comprising 11 thatPope Gregory IX placed at the end of the fifthBook ofDecretals and 88 thatPope Boniface VIII placed in the final title ofLiber Sextus Decretalium.
These rules aredeductions, rather than repetitions of legal principles in constitutions or judgments, of several laws on the same subject, and consequently were reserved to the final titles of the two books aforementioned, in imitation of the order of theJustinian Code, specifically theDigest, Liber l, Titulus 17.
Whileregulae juris are greatly important, few general principles are without some exception. Someregulae juris are applicable in all matters and others only to judicial trials, benefices, et cetera; the following examples of those of limited applicability are from theLiber Sextus Decretalium:
88 legal dicta, axioms, or principles comprise theDe Regulis Juris promulgated in 1298 byPope Boniface VIII.[4]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Meehan, Andrew (1911). "Regulæ Juris". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
