That shall be preserved which is useful in the beginning.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) A provision, grant, or right that served a lawful purpose at its inception should be maintained and enforced rather than discarded by later construction.

Where this applies

• A clause in a corporate charter that originally served to protect minority shareholders is challenged decades later as outdated, but the court preserves it because it was useful at the outset.
• A treaty provision that prevented border conflicts when first enacted is attacked as unnecessary in peacetime, but the court retains it because provisions useful at their inception should be maintained.
• A constitutional amendment that safeguarded voting rights at the time of its ratification is challenged as obsolete, but the court holds that what was useful at the beginning should be preserved.