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Sic

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

So; thus. The initial word of the following Latin maxims: Sic interpretandum est ut verba accipiantur cum effectu. Construction should be such that all the language may, if possible, have effect.

Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas

So use your own that you shall not injure another's. Ownership of any subject appears to entitle the owner to make any use he pleases of it; but the law has long recognized that the rights and safety of others express a restriction upon the use of one's own property, which is one of the fundamental rules of the law. The principle, that a man may do what he will with his own, is otherwise almost unrestricted. But his use of his own property must not injure the property of others. And the maxim is applied to protect not only tangible property, but rights, and rights which are common to every one, as well as the rights of private individuals. The maxim may be illustrated by the following out of many similar instances: the obstruction of ancient lights; the stopping, by obstruction or diversion, on your own land, of a flow of water on to your neighbor's; the erection of public works, brick-kilns, &c., emitting large quantities of smoke, offensive smells, &c., near to a private dwelling-house; all cases of nuisance, negligence, &c. Whart. Max.