The disposition of the law is more equitable than that of man.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) The law, when allowed to operate according to its settled principles, produces more just results than the arbitrary discretion of any individual.

Where this applies

• A judge considers overriding a statutory inheritance scheme to give more to a sympathetic claimant, but declines because the law's settled disposition is more equitable than any individual's sense of fairness.
• A court is tempted to rewrite a contract to produce a result the judge considers more fair, but restrains itself because the law's established rules of construction yield more reliable justice than ad hoc discretion.
• A legislator proposes granting a government official broad personal discretion to distribute benefits, but the proposal is rejected because the settled operation of law produces more equitable results than the judgment of any single person.