# I need a latin legal term for a work of fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2016, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321 "2016-04-28T09:32:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Julius\_TheG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Julius\_TheG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_TheG)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/1 "2016-04-28T09:32:20Z")
Well, this is my first thread in a long time, I used to post here some years ago but I’ve lost that email. So now I’m an old and new member at the same time. Also, I’m mexican, and my native language is spanish, so please forgive any mistakes in my grammar (but please be kind and point if any). Please move the thread to another section if it does not go here. Given that short introduction, I’ll move to my request. I’m working in a fiction story and I need a latin legal term that can be used something like: YOU HAVE NOT THE RIGHT TO AN ATTORNEY BECAUSE THIS CRIME IS _ **latin term here** _ This has to mean: “the crime is beyond any reasonable doubt and it does not need a trial or jury, it goes directly to the punishment”. Remember this is a work of fiction, it is suppose to happen in a world with a different criminal justice system, for example: a guy who wears a black hat is a criminal by the only fact of using it, no attorney, no trial, no jury, not evidences or proofs needed. Also remember that I’m not a legal worker or expert, so this latin expression may be invented for this or may already exist in some point of history. You get the idea (I think). I have avoided the use of “in flagrante delicto” or “smoking gun”, because I believe that even if you are catched in that condition, you have right to a trial and everything. But this justice system in my fiction is completely arbitrary, and unfair. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/2 "2016-04-28T10:44:40Z")
I think you could choose between _crimen evidens_, _crimen obvium_ and _crimen manifestum_ (pl. _crimina evidentia_/_obvia_/_manifesta_). ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/3 "2016-04-28T11:16:56Z")
I guess you could stretch the definition of Ex Juris. Also, you could call it Ex Habeas Corpus. If the act is particularly heinous, you could say that the act is Hostis Humanis Generi, or “hostile to all mankind”. and that those cases don’t require trial in your universe, by Lex Non Scripta. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/4 "2016-04-28T11:20:37Z")
_Res Ipsa Loquitur_ isn’t too far off. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/5 "2016-04-28T11:43:07Z")
If you can remember your old ID, the mods can restore it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/6 "2016-04-28T12:05:44Z")
Slightly different situation, but “trials by God” were justified by saying that the situation was _ultra vires_, bad Latin for “beyond the ken of man”. The good Latin would have been _ultra homines_. _Vir_ means male-human and _homo_ means human (not to be confused with its Greek homophone, which means “the same” ;)). ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_TheG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Julius\_TheG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_TheG)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/7 "2016-04-28T22:27:16Z")
Thanks, I think I will use most of the terms provided, and I’ll report back later. Any extra ideas will be welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/8 "2016-04-28T22:50:07Z")
NOTE: **Julius TheG** , if you’ve just registered with a new user name here because you forgot the old one or the password or e-mail or something, _be sure to report yourself to the mods pronto_ and they will help you get back in with your original user name. If you don’t and the mods discover that you have two user-names, then both of your names will get instantly banned. It’s one of the more hard-nosed strictly-enforced rules around here. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_TheG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Julius\_TheG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_TheG)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-latin-legal-term-for-a-work-of-fiction/753321/9 "2016-04-28T23:43:27Z")
Ok, I didn’t know that. How do I report myself? Thank you for that.