Extraordinary conditions may call for extraordinary remedies.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) Where ordinary remedies are inadequate to meet an extraordinary situation, the court may fashion extraordinary relief — unusual circumstances justify unusual measures.

Where this applies

• During a pandemic, a court fashions an unprecedented emergency order allowing remote jury trials because the extraordinary circumstances demand an extraordinary procedural remedy.
• A judge appoints a special master to oversee a hopelessly corrupt local government because ordinary oversight mechanisms have completely failed.
• After a natural disaster destroys all court records, a court accepts alternative forms of proof that would not normally be admissible, because the situation demands flexibility.