When the rights of the king and of the subject concur, those of the king are to be preferred.

Explanation

Where the sovereign and a subject hold competing claims to the same right or property, the sovereign's claim takes precedence — though in the American system this principle is constrained by the constitutional reservation of rights to the People.

Where this applies

• The federal government and a private landowner both claim title to the same parcel; under this maxim, the sovereign's claim takes priority, though the owner may seek just compensation.
• A state asserts its right to minerals beneath privately held land, and the court rules that where sovereign and private rights overlap, the sovereign's claim prevails.
• During wartime, the government requisitions a factory that a private party also has contractual rights to use; the government's need is held to take precedence, subject to constitutional limits.