Legal Definitions - medium impedimentum

Medium impedimentum, a historical legal term meaning "a mid-impediment," refers to an intervening circumstance. This circumstance effectively prevents a second event from occurring as a direct result or consequence of an initial event.

The term medium impedimentum refers to an intervening event or circumstance that disrupts the expected chain of cause and effect, preventing a subsequent event from occurring as a direct consequence of an initial action or situation. It acts as a barrier or interruption that breaks the natural progression of events.

• Example 1: Imagine a construction company that has signed a contract to build a new office complex, with an agreed-upon start date for groundbreaking. However, a week before construction is set to begin, the local government unexpectedly imposes a temporary moratorium on all new commercial building permits due to a sudden infrastructure crisis. This moratorium is the medium impedimentum. It prevents the groundbreaking (the second event) from occurring as a direct result of the signed contract (the first event), not because the company failed to prepare, but because of the unforeseen governmental action.

• Example 2: Consider a scenario where a university student has completed all requirements for graduation and is expecting to receive their diploma at the upcoming ceremony. However, just days before the ceremony, a previously undiscovered administrative error reveals that a mandatory course credit was never properly recorded, making them technically ineligible. This administrative error acts as a medium impedimentum. It prevents the student from graduating (the second event) as a direct result of completing their studies (the first event), because an unforeseen issue intervened in the process.

• Example 3: A person makes a substantial donation to a charity with the explicit understanding that the funds will be used to build a new community center in a specific neighborhood. Before the charity can begin construction or even allocate the funds, the neighborhood in question is completely destroyed by a natural disaster, rendering the construction of a new center there impossible and unnecessary. The natural disaster serves as the medium impedimentum. It prevents the building of the community center (the second event) from occurring as a direct result of the donation (the first event), because an unforeseen and destructive event intervened.