Ubi societas, ibi ius

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)

“Ubi societas, ibi ius” (“where there is a society, there is law”) is a famous legal maxim which summarizes classic Greco-Roman social philosophy. This maxim is often erroneously attributed to Cicero, Ulpian, or Hugo Grotius (1583-1645); however, a German dictionary of legal terms and maxims attributes it to Baron Heinrich von Cocceji (1644-1719), professor of natural and international law at Heidelberg. The phrase is derived from a philosophical argument, originally inspired by Aristotle, which is usually summarized as follows:

Ubi homo, ibi societas.
Ubi societas, ibi ius.
Ergo: ubi homo, ibi ius.

(Where the human being is, there is a society.
Where there is a society, there is law.
Therefore: where the human being is, there is law.)

Heinrich von Cocceji and Hugo Grotius

Heinrich von Cocceji (1644-1719)

Heinrich von Cocceji actually uses the phrase “ubi societas, ibi ius” in his commentary to Grotius’ De Iure Belli ac Pacis (1625) published posthumous in 1751; however, it is ironic to associate this maxim with von Cocceji since he uses it to summarize the ancient social philosophy which bases law on the social nature of human beings (as does Grotius) while he himself opposes this idea and argues that law is directly based on the will of God. It is probably the edition of Grotius’ De Iure Belli ac Pacis with the commentary of Heinrich von Cocceji which has resulted in the sometimes erroneous attribution of the phrase to Grotius. But the phrase may be documented before the printing of von Cocceji’s commentary in 1751.

Samuel Rachel and Cicero

Samuel Rachel (1628-1691), a follower of Grotius, prepared an edition of Cicero’s De Officiis to which he wrote a philosophical-legal commentary: M. Tullii Ciceronis De Officiis Libri Tres et in illos Samuelis Rachelii Commentarius Philosophico-Iuridicus (1686). In Rachel’s commentary to De Officiis 1.16 (p. 177) he summarizes the argument of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics 8.9 as follows:

Ubi est societas, ibi est bonorum coummunio.
Ubi est bonorum (addere quoque licet, et Officiorum) communio, ibi est Amicitia.
Ubi est Amicitia, ibi est Jus.

(Where there is society, there is a fellowship of values.
Where there is a fellowship of values (also “and of duties” may be added), there is solidarity.
Where there is solidarity, there is law.)

Rachel’s commented edition of Cicero seems to be the reason for the erroneous attribution of the phrase “ubi societas, ibi ius” to Cicero. But Rachel’s commentary is not the earliest documented use of the phrase.

Joachim Martin Unverfärth

I have found one older use of the phrase: Joachim Martin Unverfärth, De Paedia Iurisprudentiae (1675). This is a textbook of jurisprudence published in Halle and dedicated to the prince of Saxony. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any biographical data on Joachim Martin Unverfärth. In chapter 22.5 he bases the state and international law (ius gentium) on the principle “ubi societas, ibi et ius” (p. 687). This is the oldest documented use of the phrase I have found.

Canon law: Ubi societas and Societas perfecta

The principle “ubi societas, ibi ius” has not only been used as a foundation of law in the state and international relations. Roman Catholic canon lawyers have often used the principle to legitimize canon law (the autonomous law of the church). This use of the principle bases the church’s concept of law on a social analogy which may be summarized as follows:

Ubi societas, ibi ius.
The church is a society.
Therefore: there is law in the church.

In the neoscholastic doctrine of societas perfecta the Roman Catholic Church is conceived as a sovereign society analogous to the modern sovereign state and has, as a perfect (= “sovereign”) society, its own executive, legislative, and judicial power; however, the church, unlike the modern Rechtsstaat, does not have a separation of powers (i.e., the trias politica).