Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)

&#8220Ubi societas, ibi ius &#8221 (&#8220where there’s a society, there’s law&#8221) is really a famous legal maxim which summarizes classic Greco-Roman social philosophy. This maxim is frequently erroneously related to Cicero, Ulpian, or Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) however, a German dictionary of legal terms and maxims attributes it to Baron Heinrich von Cocceji (1644-1719), professor of natural and worldwide law at Heidelberg. The saying comes from a philosophical argument, initially inspired by Aristotle, that is usually summarized the following:

Ubi homo, ibi societas.
Ubi societas, ibi ius.
Ergo: ubi homo, ibi ius.

(In which the individual is, there’s a society.
Where there’s a society, there’s law.
Therefore: in which the individual is, there’s law.)

Heinrich von Cocceji and Hugo Grotius

Heinrich von Cocceji (1644-1719)

Heinrich von Cocceji really uses the saying &#8220ubi societas, ibi ius &#8221 in the commentary to Grotius’ De Iure Belli ac Pacis (1625) printed posthumous in 1751 however, it’s ironic to affiliate this maxim with von Cocceji since he makes use of it in summary the traditional social philosophy which bases law around the social nature of people (along with Grotius) as they themself opposes this concept and argues that law is directly in line with the will of God. It’s most likely the edition of Grotius’ De Iure Belli ac Pacis using the commentary of Heinrich von Cocceji that has led to the sometimes erroneous attribution from the phrase to Grotius. However the phrase might be documented prior to the printing of von Cocceji’s commentary in 1751.

Samuel Rachel and Cicero

Samuel Rachel (1628-1691), an admirer of Grotius, prepared an edition of Cicero’s De Officiis that he authored a philosophical-legal commentary: M.

Tullii Ciceronis De Officiis Libri Tres et in illos Samuelis Rachelii Commentarius Philosophico-Iuridicus (1686). In Rachel’s commentary to De Officiis 1.16 (p. 177) he summarizes the argument of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics 8.9 the following:

Ubi est societas, ibi est bonorum coummunio.
Ubi est bonorum (addere quoque licet, et Officiorum) communio, ibi est Amicitia.
Ubi est Amicitia, ibi est Jus.

(Where there’s society, there’s a fellowship of values.
Where there’s a fellowship of values (also &#8220and of responsibilities&#8221 might be added), there’s unity.
Where there’s unity, there’s law.)

Rachel’s commented edition of Cicero appears to be the explanation of the erroneous attribution from the phrase &#8220ubi societas, ibi ius &#8221 to Cicero. But Rachel’s commentary isn’t the earliest documented utilisation of the phrase.

Joachim Martin Unverfrth

I’ve discovered one older utilisation of the phrase: Joachim Martin Unverfrth, De Paedia Iurisprudentiae (1675). This can be a textbook of jurisprudence printed in Halle and focused on the prince of Saxony. Regrettably I haven’t had the ability to find any biographical data on Joachim Martin Unverfrth. In chapter 22.5 he bases the condition and worldwide law (ius gentium ) around the principle &#8220ubi societas, ibi et ius &#8221 (p. 687). This is actually the earliest documented utilisation of the phrase I’ve discovered.

Canon law: Ubi societas and Societas perfecta

The key &#8220ubi societas, ibi ius &#8221 hasn’t only been utilized as a basis of law within the condition and worldwide relations. Roman Catholic canon lawyers have frequently used the key to legitimize canon law (the autonomous law from the church). This utilisation of the principle bases the church’s idea of law on the social example which can be summarized the following:

Ubi societas, ibi ius.
The church is really a society.
Therefore: there’s law within the church.

Within the neoscholastic doctrine of societas perfecta the Roman Catholic Church is created like a sovereign society similar towards the modern sovereign condition and it has, like a perfect (= &#8220sovereign&#8221) society, its very own executive, legislative, and judicial power however, the church, unlike the current Rechtsstaat, doesn’t have a separation of forces (i.e. the trias politica ).