Due Process

Justice is neither to be denied nor delayed.

Justitia non est neganda, non differenda.

Source: Jenk. Cent. 76, 93; 2 Inst. 56; Weisman, 68f

Every refusal to hear a case and every unnecessary delay in its resolution is a species of injustice.

Justice ought to be free, because nothing is more iniquitous than venal justice; full, because justice ought not to halt; and speedy, because delay is a kind of denial.

Justitia debet esse libera, quia nihil iniquius venali justitia; plena, quia justitia non debet claudicare; et celeris, quia dilatio est quaedam negatio.

Source: 2 Inst. 56; Weisman, 68e

The three pillars of justice — accessibility, completeness, and speed — must all be present; the absence of any one corrupts the whole.

A prison ought to be used for the keeping of men, not for their punishment.

Carcer ad homines custodiendos, non ad puniendos, dari debet.

Source: Co. Litt. 260

Imprisonment before conviction is custody, not punishment — the gaol holds the accused for trial, not to inflict suffering. Any pretrial condition that punishes before judgment perverts the purpose of confinement.

A judgment is, as it were, a declaration of law.

Judicium est quasi juris dictum.

Source: Co. Litt. 39a, 168a; 2 Inst. 537; Weisman, 64aa

Every judgment carries the force of law for the parties — it is not merely the judge's opinion but the law's own pronouncement applied to the facts found.

A thing adjudged makes white black, black white, crooked straight, and straight crooked.

Res judicata facit ex albo nigrum, ex nigro album, ex curvo rectum, ex recto curvum.

Source: 1 Bouv. Inst. no. 840; Weisman, 64z

The power of final judgment is absolute — however unjust the result may appear, once finally determined it becomes the legal truth and alters all rights accordingly.