Fiat justitia ruat caelum is a Latin legal phrase, translating to "let justice be done, though the heavens fall." The maxim signifies the belief that justice must be realized regardless of consequences. A number of Latin terms are used in legal terminology and legal maxims. ...

According to a comprehensive account by Charles Sumner, there is little doubt that this maxim does not occur in any Latin author. (See “The Position and Duties of the Merchant” (1855) in The Works of Charles Sumner, Volume III, Boston: Lee and Shephard, 1875, p. 507.) The falling sky clause occurs in the passage of Terence, suggesting that it was a common saying in his time, “Quid si redeo ad illos qui aiunt, ‘Quid si nunc cœlum ruat?’” — “What if I have recourse to those who say, ‘What now if the sky were to fall?’” (Heautontimorumenos, Act IV, scene 3, 719) This concern recalls a passage in Arrian’s Campaigns of Alexander, Book I, 4, where ambassadors of the Celtae from the Adriatic sea, tall men of haughty demeanor, upon being asked by Alexander what in the world they feared most, answered that their worst fear was that the sky might fall on their heads. Alexander, who hoped to hear himself named, was disappointed by an answer that implied that nothing within human power could hurt them, short of a total destruction of nature. In a similar vein, Theognis of Megara urges “May the great broad sky of bronze fall on my head / (That fear of earth-born men) if I am not / A friend to those who love me, and a pain / And irritation to my enemies.” (Elegies 869-872, translated by Dorothea Wender.) Whereas Aristotle asserts in his Physics, B. IV, that it was the early notion of ignorant nations that the sky was supported on the shoulders of Atlas, and that when he let go of it, it would fall. On the other hand, Horace opens one of his odes with a depiction of a Stoic hero who will submit to the ruin of the universe around him: "Si fractus illabatur orbis, / impavidum ferient ruinae" — "Should the whole frame of Nature round him break, / In ruin and confusion hurled, / He, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack, / And stand secure amidst a falling world." (Odes 3.3.7-8, translated by Joseph Addison.) For other persons named Charles Sumner, see Charles Sumner (disambiguation). ... Publius Terentius Afer, better known as Terence, was a comic playwright of the Roman Republic. ... Alexander the Great Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (c. ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... This article is about the European people. ... The Adriatic Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea separating the Apennine peninsula (Italy) from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. ... Theognis of Megara (fl. ... This article is about the philosopher. ... In Greek mythology, Atlas was one of the primordial Titans. ... Horace, as imagined by Anton von Werner Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65 BC - November 27, 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. ... For other uses, see Ode (disambiguation). ... Stoicism is a school of philosophy commonly associated with such Greek philosophers as Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes, or Chrysippus and with such later Romans as Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus. ... Joseph Addison, the Kit-cat portrait, circa 1703–1712, by Godfrey Kneller. ...

In its present form, as related to the reckless urgency of justice, the Latin maxim runs contrary to the spirit of Roman jurisprudence. Thus Cicero approves of the popular saying, “Summum jus, summa injuria”, “More law, more injustice”, in De Officiis I.33. Terence echoes the same principle, “Jus summum saepe summa malitia est”, “Extreme law is often extreme wrong”, in Heautontimorumenos, Act IV, scene 5, 796. Lastly, Seneca, tells of Gnaeus Piso, a Roman governor and lawmaker, when he was angry, ordering the execution of a soldier who had returned from leave of absence without his comrade, on the ground that if the man did not produce his companion, he had killed him. As the condemned man was presenting his neck to the executioner's sword, there suddenly appeared the very comrade who was supposed to have been murdered. The centurion in charge of the execution halted the proceedings and led the condemned man back to Piso, expecting a reprieve. But Piso mounted the tribunal in a rage, and ordered three soldiers to be led to execution. He ordered the death of the man who was to have been executed, because the sentence had already been passed; he also ordered the death of the centurion who was charged with the original execution, for failing to perform his duty; finally, he ordered the death of the man who had been supposed to have been murdered, because he had been the cause of death of two innocent men. (De Ira, Book I, Chapter XVIII.) In subsequent retellings, this principle became known as “Piso’s justice”, technically correct, but morally wrong. For other uses, see Cicero (disambiguation). ... De Officiis (On Duties or On Obligations) is an essay by Marcus Tullius Cicero divided into three books, where Cicero explains his view on the best way to live. ...

Approval of justice at all cost appears to originate in English jurisprudence. Thus William Watson in “Ten Quodlibetical Quotations Concerning Religion and State” (1601) “You go against that general maxim in the laws, which is ‘Fiat justitia et ruant coeli.’” As is known, this is its first appearance in English literature. The maxim was used by William Prynne in “Fresh Discovery of Prodigious Wandering New-Blazing Stars” (1646), by Nathaniel Ward in “Simple Cobbler of Agawam” (1647), and frequently thereafter, but it was given its widest celebrity by William Murray, 1st Baron Mansfield's decision in 1772 on the James Somersett case that led to abolition of slavery in England. The maxim is given in various forms: “Fiat justitia et ruant coeli” (Watson); “Fiat justitia et coelum ruat” (John Manningham, Diary, 11 April, 1603); “Justitia fiat, ruat coelum” (Lord Mansfield). On the European continent, and especially in Germany, the maxim has another common form, “Fiat justitia et pereat mundus.” William Watson (c. ... William Prynne (1600 - October 24, 1669) was a Puritan opponent of the church policy of Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud. ... The Reverend Nathaniel Ward (1578 — October 1652) wrote the first constitution in North America in 1641. ... William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (March 2, 1705 - March 20, 1793), was a British judge and politician who reached high office in the House of Lords. ... Year 1772 (MDCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... James Somersett or Somerset was a slave who was brought by his owner from Virginia to England. ...

More recently, Judge James Edwin Horton referred to the maxim when he recalled his decision to overturn the conviction of Haywood Patterson in the infamous Scottsboro Boys trial. In 1933, Judge Horton set aside the death sentence of Haywood Patterson, one of nine black men who were wrongfully convicted of raping two white women in Alabama. Judge Horton quoted the phrase when explaining why he made his decision, even though he knew it would mean the end of his judicial career. [1] This article is considered orphaned, since there are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... The case of the Scottsboro Boys arose in Scottsboro, Alabama during the 1930s, when nine black youths, ranging in age from thirteen to seventeen, were accused of raping two white women, one of whom would later recant. ...

The phrase is engraved on the wall behind the bench in the Supreme Court of Georgia and over the lintel of the Bridewell Garda station in Dublin. "Fiat Justitia" appears at the bottom of the portrait of the Great Chief Justice John Marshall by Rembrandt Peale. Peale's 1835 portrait of Marshall hangs in a conference room at the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of Georgia is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. State of Georgia. ...

This is also the motto of the United Kingdom Royal Air Force Police and it is displayed on the RAF Police Crest. See also the RAF Police Association web site www.rafpa.com