Turpis causa / Dolum malum

[vittoria]

Lawyers out there: I thought I knew the meaning of ex turpi causa non oritur actio, (one cannot rely upon one's own turpitude) but now I have come across ex dolo malo etc. So what is the difference between a turpis causa and a dolum malum?

[FredPuli]

'Ex turpi....' really means 'no case is to be pleaded on a dishonourable cause of action''. ( Roman lawyers were keen on ethical behaviour and applied it to litigants) 'Ex dolo malo' is Roman jurist, and so our, Latin for ' arising from fraud ' broadly 'fraudulently' ( literally 'from a wicked motive of deceit'.) Can't say I've ever encountered it in practice as part of a longer rule . What is the 'etc' for in your question ? It would be called a 'dolus malus' as it's masculine not neuter (he writes pedantically!)

[vittoria]

Thanks for your reply FredPuli. I came across Ex dolo malo non oritur causa, which confused me as I had previously come across ex turpe causa non oritur actio. By the way it must be turpe not turpi in the ablative? I have vague memories of pari-syllabic and non-pari-syllabic adjectives.. (If you were referring to yourself as writing pedantically, as you can see I can be pedantic too!!!)Unfortunately with exams coming up I cannot even begin to think where I saw it, but it must have been one of my books (am doing Equity & Trusts as part of my part time LLB this year). It sounds like there is a substantive (but not very substantial in practice) difference between a dishonourable cause of action and a fraudulent one?? (I had wrongly assumed dolum was neutral - thanks for advising.)

[FredPuli]

I went to my Lewis and Short dictionary to find the translation of what was the meaning of 'ex turpE (!) and 'dolus malus. The latter expression is given as a jurist's term meaning 'guile, fraud, deceit' . 'Dolus' itself means 'a device, artifice,' hence 'evil intent, doing with a view to the consequences (opp. negligence)' and 'malus' means 'evil, wicked,injurious,mischievous, destructive, hurtful'. 'Turpis' is 'base, scandalous, dishonourable,disgraceful, shameful,unseemly,infamous'I reckon they really must be the same, if you pick the right combination of meanings out of that lot ! Oh, give my regards to the clean hands rule !