No one maintains an action arising out of his own wrong.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) A party who caused the very wrong he complains of cannot maintain an action based on that wrong — no man may be both the author of an injury and the claimant for its redress.

Where this applies

• An arsonist who burned down his own building cannot sue the fire department for not arriving fast enough to save it.
• A drunk driver who caused a crash cannot sue the other driver for failing to avoid him.
• A company that illegally dumped chemicals into a river cannot sue the city for failing to clean up the contamination the company itself caused.