Latin Legal Terms

Definitions and South-African-law usage notes for the Latin terms judges, lawyers, and textbooks routinely cite. Free, indexed, and updated as new terms are curated from our source library.

situs
position; site; location
In South African law, situs refers to the location of property or a thing for legal purposes. It is commonly used in private international law, property law, and jurisdictional questions to determine which court has auth
#property#civil
sui generis
of its own kind; unique in its class
Sui generis describes something that is legally unique and does not fit neatly within established categories. In South African law, the expression is often used to characterise institutions, rights, or statutory arrangem
#constitutional#procedure#property