Legal Maxims and Jurisprudence Basics MCQs 2026

The maxim actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea means

1. A the act alone does not make one guilty unless the mind is guilty ✓
2. B every act is criminal regardless of intention ✓
3. C only thoughts without acts are punished ✓
4. D ignorance always excuses criminal liability ✓

The maxim ignorantia juris non excusat means

1. A ignorance of fact is never relevant ✓
2. B ignorance of the law is no excuse ✓
3. C only judges may ignore statutes ✓
4. D foreign law always applies in Pakistan ✓

The maxim ignorantia facti excusat means

1. A ignorance of fact may excuse in appropriate circumstances ✓
2. B ignorance of law always excuses ✓
3. C all crimes require no mental element ✓
4. D every mistake of law excuses ✓

Audi alteram partem is the principle of

1. A deciding without notice ✓
2. B punishment before trial always ✓
3. C secret proceedings without record ✓
4. D hearing the other side before a decision ✓

Nemo judex in causa sua means

1. A judges must always be parties ✓
2. B no one should be a judge in his own cause ✓
3. C parties must judge themselves ✓
4. D prosecutors decide final appeals ✓

Res ipsa loquitur literally means

1. A the thing speaks for itself ✓
2. B the judge speaks for the law only ✓
3. C evidence is never required ✓
4. D the accused always confesses ✓

Ubi jus ibi remedium means

1. A where there is a right, there is a remedy ✓
2. B rights exist without enforcement ✓
3. C remedies exist without rights ✓
4. D courts create rights without law ✓

Stare decisis refers to

1. A ignoring all prior judgments ✓
2. B standing by decided matters; adherence to precedent ✓
3. C random decision-making ✓
4. D legislative supremacy over all courts always ✓

Ratio decidendi is

1. A a judge's casual remark with no binding force ✓
2. B the full text of the Constitution ✓
3. C every sentence in a judgment equally binding ✓
4. D the binding legal reason for the decision in a case ✓

Obiter dicta are

1. A the core holding always binding ✓
2. B statutory provisions in the PPC ✓
3. C mandatory orders of the legislature ✓
4. D remarks by a judge not essential to the decision and not binding precedent ✓

Legal positivism, associated with thinkers such as John Austin, emphasizes that law is

1. A identical to morality in all cases ✓
2. B derived solely from natural reason without enactment ✓
3. C a command of the sovereign backed by sanctions ✓
4. D always unwritten custom only ✓

Natural law theory traditionally holds that

1. A positive enactments are the only source of validity always ✓
2. B law and morality must never interact ✓
3. C courts should never examine justice ✓
4. D unjust laws may be invalid against higher moral or divine principles ✓

The maxim nullum crimen sine lege means

1. A any act may be punished retroactively ✓
2. B custom alone creates all crimes without publication ✓
3. C no crime without law ✓
4. D police define crimes without statute ✓

De minimis non curat lex means

1. A every trivial act must be punished maximally ✓
2. B courts ignore all serious offences ✓
3. C the law does not concern itself with trifles ✓
4. D only major civil contracts exist ✓

Ex turpi causa non oritur actio means

1. A illegal contracts are always enforceable ✓
2. B courts must reward fraud ✓
3. C every immoral act creates a claim ✓
4. D no action arises from a disgraceful or illegal cause ✓

Nemo debet bis vexari pro una et eadem causa means

1. A double prosecution is always allowed ✓
2. B no one should be vexed twice for the same cause (autrefois acquit/convict related principle) ✓
3. C civil and criminal liability never coexist ✓
4. D appeals are prohibited ✓

Justice delayed is justice denied reflects

1. A speed overrides all fair trial rights always ✓
2. B delay improves accuracy always ✓
3. C the right to timely adjudication in fair trial discourse ✓
4. D courts need not give reasons ✓

The rule of law requires that

1. A all persons and authorities are subject to publicly enacted, equally enforced law ✓
2. B rulers are above legal constraints ✓
3. C secret decrees govern citizens ✓
4. D only judges are bound by law ✓

Hart's concept of law distinguishes primary rules from

1. A secondary rules of recognition, change and adjudication ✓
2. B only moral commandments ✓
3. C only religious fatwas without enactment ✓
4. D only police regulations without courts ✓

Fuller argued that a legal system must satisfy an internal morality of

1. A pure economic efficiency only ✓
2. B procedural requirements such as clarity, publicity and consistency (eight desiderata) ✓
3. C military discipline only ✓
4. D unwritten secrecy of laws ✓

A declaratory judgment

1. A always sends accused to prison ✓
2. B states rights without necessarily awarding coercive relief ✓
3. C creates new criminal offences ✓
4. D replaces the Constitution ✓

Equity follows the law means

1. A equity abolishes all statutes ✓
2. B equity ignores all precedent ✓
3. C equity applies only in criminal trials ✓
4. D equitable principles operate in harmony and do not arbitrarily contradict clear statute ✓

He who comes to equity must come with clean hands means

1. A equity aids fraudsters ✓
2. B equity requires no good faith ✓
3. C a party seeking equitable relief must not have engaged in relevant wrongdoing ✓
4. D equity applies only to the government ✓

In statutory interpretation, ejusdem generis applies when

1. A general words following specific items are read to include only things of the same kind ✓
2. B every word is given widest meaning always ✓
3. C statutes are never interpreted ✓
4. D only foreign language applies ✓

Expressio unius est exclusio alterius suggests that

1. A express mention of one thing excludes others not mentioned ✓
2. B mention of one includes all others automatically ✓
3. C silence expands meaning infinitely ✓
4. D statutes have no textual limits ✓

Mischief rule (Heydon's case) asks what

1. A only dictionary meaning from 1600 applies ✓
2. B judges rewrite statutes freely ✓
3. C past moral codes replace text ✓
4. D mischief the statute intended to remedy and interprets accordingly ✓

Literal rule of interpretation gives words their

1. A always widest political meaning ✓
2. B plain, ordinary grammatical meaning unless absurdity results ✓
3. C only historical meaning from foreign law ✓
4. D meaning chosen randomly by prosecutor ✓

Golden rule modifies literal meaning to avoid

1. A all clear meanings regardless of outcome ✓
2. B only beneficial results for the accused in every civil case ✓
3. C absurd or repugnant results ✓
4. D foreign law incorporation always ✓

Primary legislation is law made by

1. A judges in their personal capacity only ✓
2. B the legislature (Parliament/Provincial Assembly) ✓
3. C police stations ✓
4. D private companies alone ✓

Delegated legislation refers to

1. A the Constitution only ✓
2. B judgments of the Supreme Court only ✓
3. C custom without any enabling law ✓
4. D rules and regulations made under authority of a parent statute ✓

Ultra vires means

1. A within jurisdiction ✓
2. B beyond legal power or authority ✓
3. C mandatory compliance ✓
4. D perfectly valid always ✓

Mala fide means

1. A good faith always ✓
2. B negligence without intent ✓
3. C bad faith ✓
4. D strict liability only ✓

Bona fide means

1. A fraudulent intent ✓
2. B criminal negligence ✓
3. C absolute liability without excuse ✓
4. D in good faith ✓

Sub judice means

1. A under judicial consideration; a matter before the court ✓
2. B finally decided with no appeal ✓
3. C never filed in court ✓
4. D only under police investigation forever ✓

Per incuriam describes a decision given

1. A with full consideration of all authority ✓
2. B without regard to relevant statutory authority or binding precedent ✓
3. C as binding on all future courts always ✓
4. D only by legislature ✓

Distinguishing a precedent means

1. A overruling the Supreme Court by a magistrate ✓
2. B ignoring all facts ✓
3. C showing material difference so the earlier ratio does not apply ✓
4. D accepting ratio fully ✓

Overruling a precedent means

1. A applying the earlier case identically ✓
2. B following obiter as ratio ✓
3. C refusing to hear appeals ✓
4. D a higher court declares an earlier decision no longer binding ✓

Jurisprudence is best described as

1. A only court procedure forms ✓
2. B only police investigation manuals ✓
3. C the theoretical study of law and legal systems ✓
4. D only accounting standards ✓

Custom may become law when it is

1. A any recent habit of one person ✓
2. B always opposite to statute ✓
3. C ancient, continuous, peaceful, certain and not contrary to statute ✓
4. D never recognized in courts ✓

Justice must not only be done but must manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done reflects

1. A public confidence in impartial adjudication ✓
2. B secrecy of all hearings ✓
3. C bias is acceptable if efficient ✓
4. D reasons need not be recorded ✓