Ratio
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
Reason.
Also, an account; a cause.
Ratio legis est anima legis
The reason of the law is the soul of the law. This principle is more commonly expressed by the maxim, cessante ralione legis, cessat ipsa lex, q. v.