Also sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas.
In Reid v Linnell, in the context of a man's right to excavate upon his land, Justice Ainglin wrote:
"(T)he right of the defendants to excavate as they did, like other rights of using property, was subject to the qualification implied in the maxim sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas. Their right to excavate as they did is unquestioned; but the exercise of that right entailed an obligation to do for the protection of those who they knew might be expected to make use of the adjoining yard what a prudent and reasonable man would regard as requisite, or usually sufficient, to prevent a person using ordinary care from falling into the excavation while moving about the yard as was customary."
In the same case, Justice Migneault used these words to define the maxim:
"It is, prima facie, competent to any man to enjoy and deal with his own property as he chooses. He must, however, so enjoy and use it as not to affect injuriously the rights of others."
It often conflicts with qui jure suo utitur neminem facit injuriam (he who exercises his lawful rights, harms no-one).
In international law reigns a seemingly perpetual conflict between one nation's assertion of qui jure suo utitur neminem facit injuriam while neighbouring nations base their complaint on sic utera tuo ut alienam non laedas.
REFERENCES:
- Duhaime, Lloyd, Latin Law Dictionary
- Duhaime, Lloyd, Legal Definition of Qui Jure Suo Utitur Neminem Facit Injuriam
- Duhaime, Lloyd, The Law of Nuisance
- Duhaime, Lloyd, Tort & Personal Injury Law
- Duhaime, Lloyd, Tort & Personal Injury Law Dictionary
- Reid v Linnell 1923 SCR 594