The law does not compel the impossible.

Explanation

No government may require of its citizens what is impossible to perform.

Where this applies

• A state passes a regulation requiring all restaurants to install a filtration system that does not yet exist on the market — no restaurant can comply because the required technology has not been invented.
• A court orders a father to pay child support of $8,000 per month when his documented income is $2,400 — the law cannot compel him to pay what he does not have and cannot earn.
• A county demands that a landowner redirect a river flowing through his property within 30 days to comply with a new drainage ordinance — moving a river in a month is physically impossible, and the law does not require it.

See also

• 12.6.1 Necessity has no law.