What Does lawful Mean
The Latin word licĭtus came to our language as licit . It is an adjective that makes it possible to refer to what is authorized or tolerated by the regulations in force in a certain area.
For example: "It is lawful for me to refuse to testify, as my lawyer explained to me" , "According to the majority of sports analysts, the first goal of the local team was not legal" , "Before a lawful voluntary act , Justice he has nothing to say ” .
In these examples we can appreciate some of the nuances of this concept, which allow us to use it in different cases. In the first, we see that a person asked to make a statement refuses, objecting that his lawyer had explained to him that he has the right to remain silent in the face of questions from the interlocutor.
In the second example we are faced with a situation that takes place in the framework of a football match that must be analyzed by various experts in order to determine whether it is a goal or not. Some sports have several layers of complexity that give rise to certain difficulties when interpreting a play.
A lawful voluntary act cannot be punishable, since Justice itself considers it within the list of things that citizens can do. It is important to recognize lawful acts to prevent a wrongful accusation from harming someone.
In the three cases we see different situations, but that does not prevent them from having something in common: there is a series of basic rules that allow us to identify legal and illegal acts. In fact, it is clear that we are not talking about laws of nature but those that human beings created and continue to create with the aim of organizing their life in society and maintaining order.
For a legal act to be valid, it must have a legal object as an essential component. This means that the content of the legal matter has to comply with the laws . The opposite of the legal object is the illegal object, which does not correspond to the legal provisions.
As an interesting fact, in Ancient Rome there was no Legal Act Theory as we know it today, since this work dates from 19th century German pandectism , a doctrine that preceded codification and reached its splendor in the 19th century.
Every contract , on the other hand, must be motivated by a lawful cause . Therefore, only with a lawful cause is the legal obligation born.
The idea of legal origin , meanwhile, is usually used with respect to obtaining resources through some action or mechanism endorsed by law. When the funds are of legal origin, they are not the result of an illegal activity.
Suppose that a person spends a millionaire sum to buy a TV channel. If this money comes from drug trafficking, it does not have a legal origin. On the other hand, if it was gathered thanks to the cattle activity, its origin is not objectionable.
In the field of sport , finally, what is allowed by the regulations is mentioned as lawful . A legal goal , in football , is achieved without committing any violation of the rules.
This term is widely used, both in technical fields and in everyday speech. It goes without saying that in many cases its meaning is not represented absolutely precisely, but is included in informal sentences to express approval with respect to a business, a procedure or a product.
Among the most common synonyms for the word "lawful" are the following: "legitimate, legal, authorized, permitted" and "fair." Its most widely used antonyms, on the other hand, are "illegal" and "illicit."