Legal Definitions - fictio

fictio

Fictio is a legal term that means a legal assumption or supposition that is necessary to achieve certain legal results that otherwise would not be obtained. It is a legal fiction that is used to expand the law beyond what is strictly allowed by the law.

One example of fictio is the action of common recovery in English law. This allowed a landowner to convey land that by law could not be alienated, such as land held in fee tail. Another example is the use of fictio in Roman law, where legal fictions allowed Roman magistrates to expand the law beyond what was strictly allowed by the jus civile.

These examples illustrate how fictio is used to achieve certain legal results that would not be possible without legal assumptions or suppositions. It allows the law to be expanded beyond its strict limitations to achieve a desired outcome.