LITERAL MEANING: Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

DEFINITION: The lack of awareness of the law is not a reason for disobeying it, according to this notion. It is a Latin aphorism that states that lack of facts can be excused, but ignorance of the law cannot. Every individual should be familiar with the laws of the country in which he or she resides. He can not say he was not aware of it. Even if he is a foreigner, he must follow the rules of the land as long as he is in that country. In criminal law, this maxim is frequently utilized.

ILLUSTRATION: It is murder if a person believes he has the right to kill an outlawed or excommunicated person wherever he meets him. However, if a guy means to kill a burglar or housebreaker in his own home, but instead kills a member of his family, this will be regarded as a factual error, and no criminal action would be taken.

INTRODUCTION: The rule of law is all-encompassing. Almost all of your behaviors, with the exception of a handful, are governed by law. Personal, familial, civil, criminal, revenue, commercial, taxes, public and private international law, and so on are all types of law. Statutory, customary, moral or ethical, ecclesiastical, and other types of law exist. However, it is commonly understood that ignorance of any of these regulations is not a justification. You cannot use ignorance as a defence to avoid facing the consequences of your actions. Though this is the case, it is quite easy for someone to claim ignorance as a defence, even if he was fully aware of the law and its implications.

If ignorance is accepted as a defence, the law enforcement machinery will grind to a halt. Because it is a negative fact, the court cannot demand proof. It necessitates a thorough examination of the lawbreaker’s mental state, which is a challenging task. For all of these reasons, the legal policy has always been to reject the claim of legal ignorance.

CAN IGNORANCE OF THE LAW BE USED AS A DEFENSE?: Ignorance of the law is not a defence for most crimes. For the most part, the general notion that ignorance of the law is no excuse holds true. In some restricted cases, however, ignorance of the law can be used as an excuse.

KNOWING THE LAW: We are required to know what the law says in our legal system. However, this does not imply that we must all be legal specialists. It is unrealistic to expect everyone to remember all of the laws! Even lawyers are unaware of all of this information.

The notion that “ignorance of the law is no excuse” states that persons cannot justify their acts by claiming they were unaware of the law.

People would be far more likely to break a contract, disregard a neighbor’s right to privacy, or distribute narcotics if they could get away with it by claiming they were unaware of the law.

POSITION OF THE RULE IN INDIA: India, as a country that has been under British administration for over 200 years, has accepted British laws that have been somewhat adjusted to fit Indian conditions and culture. Prior to the British conquest of India, Indian courts used the personal laws of Hindus and Mohammadans to resolve issues brought before them. If the parties are Hindus, Hindu law will be used, and if the parties are Muslims, Islamic law will be applied. If one side is a Hindu and the other is a Muslim, the defendant’s law will apply. However, during British rule, Indian courts began to utilize English common law in addition to Hindu law and other entirely Indian rules to resolve conflicts. However, English laws predominate in the majority of cases. In terms of the maxim, India followed it as well, but with certain exceptions.

BE WELL INFORMED: As a result, you can understand how critical it is to follow the law. There are a few things you can do to learn more about the law:
1.) Speak with a lawyer or notary public.
2.) Lookup legal facts on the internet.

CONCLUSION: All individuals within the jurisdiction of the law are presumed to be aware of all laws. The rationale behind the maxim is that if ignorance of the law is accepted as an excuse, anyone accused of criminal offenses or facing a civil lawsuit can simply claim ignorance of the law in question to avoid liability, even though they are fully aware of the law. As a result, the rule implies that the relevant law was duly published, distributed, or printed in an official gazette and made available to the public through the internet or in volumes for sale to the public at reasonable costs.

ENDNOTES: https://bnblegal.com/ignorantia-juris-non-excusat/

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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