Skip to content
NeCede's

Maxim 12.9.1

Time is the devourer of things; for time is a means of destroying obligations and actions, because time runs against the slothful and those who neglect their own rights.

Tempus est edax rerum; tempus enim modus tollendi obligationes et actiones, quia tempus currit contra desides et sui juris contemptores.

Source: Bract. fols. 100b, 101; Fleta, lib. 1, c. 4, s. 5, §12 Difficulty 1/5 — Foundational

Explanation

He who sleeps on his rights may lose them — the passage of time is the law's penalty for inaction.

Where this applies

  • I waited too long to assert my rights and now they may be lost.
  • Time runs against those who neglect their own rights.
  • Sleeping on your rights can destroy them — the law penalizes inaction.

Topics

Time & Limitations

Legal domains

procedural

See also

Cite this maxim

NeCede Max. 12.9.1 — Time is the devourer of things; for time is a means of destroying obligations and actions, because time runs against the slothful and those who neglect their own rights. — Bract. fols. 100b, 101; Fleta, lib. 1, c. 4, s. 5, §12 (Tempus est edax rerum; tempus enim modus tollendi obligationes et actiones, quia tempus currit contra desides et sui juris contemptores.)

Found an error? Suggest a correction →