Law is made to prevent the stronger from having the power to do everything.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim — no Latin equivalent; the English title is the original form.) The law exists as a check on power — government and the powerful may act only within their delegated authority, and the common law protects the weak against the encroachments of the strong.

Where this applies

• A powerful corporation uses its economic leverage to force small competitors out of business through predatory pricing, and the court applies antitrust law because the law exists to prevent the strong from dominating the weak.
• A government agency with vast resources threatens an individual with endless litigation to exhaust their ability to resist, and the court intervenes because the law was made to check the power of the strong.
• A wealthy landlord pressures a tenant into signing away lease protections, and the court voids the waiver because the law protects the weaker party from the coercive power of the stronger.