He who condemns the precept condemns the party giving it.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) To attack the authority of a command is to attack the one who issued it — cite this to argue that defiance of a lawful order is contempt of the authority behind it.

Where this applies

• A citizen publicly denounces a court order as unconstitutional; the judge holds him in contempt, reasoning that condemning the command is condemning the authority of the court that issued it.
• A soldier refuses to follow a general's order and openly ridicules it; the military tribunal treats the defiance as an affront to the general's authority itself, not merely a disagreement with the specific instruction.
• An employee publicly attacks a company policy and is terminated; the employer argues that by condemning the directive, the employee was effectively condemning the management that issued it.