Law is established for the benefit of man.

Explanation

All law exists to serve and protect the People, not to aggrandize government — any construction of a statute that benefits the state at the expense of the individual inverts the purpose of law itself.

Where this applies

• A regulation imposes severe penalties on small farmers to benefit large agricultural corporations, and the court strikes it because law must serve the people, not oppress them for the benefit of the powerful.
• A city condemns a neighborhood for redevelopment that will primarily enrich a private developer, and residents argue the taking serves private gain, not the public benefit for which law exists.
• A licensing scheme is so expensive that it effectively bars ordinary people from earning a living, and the court holds that law exists to benefit mankind, not to create barriers to honest labor.