In jure non remota causa sed proxima spectator — In law the immediate and not

A shopkeeper leaves a gas cylinder leaking. A passer-by lights a cigarette three shops away. The spark meets the gas and the shop burns down. Whose act “caused” the fire — the leak, or the cigarette? A scientist would say both, and a dozen conditions besides. A court cannot say that; it must pick one. This maxim is the rule it uses to pick.

In two minutes

In law, the immediate and not the remote cause is looked to — when several conditions stand behind a loss, the law fixes on the one nearest in time and effect to the loss, and treats everything further back as mere background.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Logic – II on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.