Legal Definitions - quomodo constat

Quomodo constat is a Latin phrase historically used in legal contexts to mean "as it appears" or "how it is established." It refers to how a fact, argument, or situation is evident or understood directly from the written record, such as court documents, pleadings, or other official papers. This phrase emphasizes that conclusions are drawn strictly from the information presented in the existing documentation, rather than from external evidence or assumptions.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of quomodo constat:

• Imagine a legal scholar researching an ancient property dispute. They are examining old deeds, wills, and court transcripts from the 17th century to understand who legally owned a particular piece of land. The scholar's determination of ownership would be based on quomodo constat—that is, solely on what is explicitly stated or clearly implied within those historical documents. They would not consider modern land surveys or current physical boundaries, but rather how the ownership "appears" from the original written records.

• Consider a judge in a historical case reviewing a set of written pleadings submitted by two opposing parties. Each party presents their version of events and legal arguments in writing. When the judge makes a preliminary ruling based solely on these submissions, they are doing so based on quomodo constat. Their decision reflects what "appears" to be the case from the arguments and facts presented in the filed documents, before any oral testimony or further evidence might be introduced.

• Suppose a legal historian is analyzing a collection of medieval charters to understand the rights and obligations of feudal lords and their vassals. To determine the specific duties a vassal owed to their lord, the historian would rely on quomodo constat. Their interpretation would be limited to what is expressly written in the charters themselves, establishing the relationship "as it appears" from those foundational legal texts, without speculating about unwritten customs or practices.