Legal Definitions - quovis tempore

Quovis tempore is a Latin phrase that historically meant "at whatever time" or "whenever." In legal contexts, it was used to indicate that an action could be taken, a condition could be met, or an obligation could be fulfilled without a specific deadline or a fixed schedule, allowing for flexibility in timing.

• Imagine a historical royal decree issued by a monarch stating that certain goods could be requisitioned from a province quovis tempore to support the army. This meant that the military authorities were not bound by a specific date for collection but could demand the goods whenever the need arose or whenever they passed through the province, rather than on a pre-set schedule.

  This example illustrates that the requisitioning of goods could happen "at whatever time" the military deemed necessary, without a fixed deadline.

• Consider a historical legal agreement where a landowner granted a neighbor the right to cross their property quovis tempore to access a public road. This privilege meant the neighbor could use the path whenever they needed to, whether it was morning, noon, or night, without requiring specific permission for each instance or being restricted to certain hours.

  This example shows that the right of passage could be exercised "at whatever time" the neighbor chose, based on their convenience.

• In a historical will, a testator might have stipulated that a certain charitable donation should be made quovis tempore after their death, once the estate was settled. This implied that while the donation was mandatory, there was no strict deadline for its execution; the executors could make the payment whenever the financial affairs of the estate were in order and it was practical to do so, rather than by a specific calendar date.

  This example demonstrates that the donation could be made "at whatever time" was most suitable for the estate's administration, without a rigid timeframe.