Legal Definitions - ad eversionem juris nostri

The Latin phrase ad eversionem juris nostri translates to "to the overthrow of our right." It refers to an action or intent that aims to fundamentally subvert, destroy, or negate an established legal right, a system of rights, or the entire legal framework upon which a society operates. It implies a direct challenge to the foundational principles of law and justice, seeking to dismantle rather than merely amend or interpret existing legal entitlements.

• Imagine a scenario where a newly elected government attempts to pass legislation that systematically strips citizens of fundamental constitutional protections, such as the right to free speech or due process, without following established legal procedures for amending the constitution. This action could be described as ad eversionem juris nostri because it seeks to fundamentally undermine and destroy the long-held legal rights of the populace, rather than merely modifying or interpreting them within the existing legal framework.

• Consider a situation where a powerful private entity or a rogue faction within the government attempts to seize control of the judiciary through illegal means, installing judges who pledge allegiance not to the law, but to the entity's specific agenda. If their goal is to systematically invalidate existing laws and legal precedents to impose their own arbitrary rules, their actions would constitute an attempt ad eversionem juris nostri, aiming to overthrow the established legal order and the rights it protects.

• Suppose a nation's highest court begins to issue a series of rulings that consistently and deliberately disregard established legal principles, constitutional mandates, and long-standing precedents, effectively creating a new legal system based purely on the personal ideologies of the judges rather than the rule of law. Such a pattern of judicial behavior could be seen as an act ad eversionem juris nostri, as it seeks to dismantle the predictable and consistent application of justice and the legal rights derived from it.