Obedience to existing laws is a sufficient extenuation of guilt before a civil tribunal.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) Compliance with existing law is a sufficient mitigation of guilt before a civil tribunal — a man who acted within the bounds of the law as it stood is entitled to leniency, because obedience to the law of the land extenuates what might otherwise be blameworthy.

Where this applies

• A tax collector who seizes property under a statute later declared unconstitutional is not held personally liable because he was following existing law at the time.
• A business owner who complied with a government-issued regulation cannot be punished when the regulation is later found to be invalid.
• A police officer who enforced a local ordinance in good faith is shielded from personal liability even after the ordinance is struck down by a court.