Jurisprudence

by Sir John W. Salmond

8. De minimis non curat lex.

Cro. Eliz. 353. Cf. the medieval maxim of the Civilians: Minima non curat praetor. Dernburg, Pandekten, I. § 140. n. 5.

The law takes no account of trifles. This is a maxim which relates to the ideal, rather than to the actual law. The tendency to attribute undue importance to mere matters of form—the failure to distinguish adequately between the material and the immaterial—is a characteristic defect of legal systems. See § 10.