Legal Definitions - non liquet

Definition: Non liquet is a Latin term that means "it is not clear." In law, it refers to a situation where a decision-maker may decline to make a decision on a dispute because the matter is unclear.

In civil law, non liquet is a principle that allows a judge to refuse to make a decision if the case is unclear. For example, if a judge is presented with a case where the evidence is insufficient or contradictory, they may say "non liquet" and find for the defendant.

In international law, non liquet refers to a tribunal's non-decision resulting from the unclarity of the law applicable to the dispute at hand. However, in modern usage, the phrase appears almost always in passages stating what a court must not do: tribunals are routinely disallowed from declaring a non liquet.

For example, if a judge is presented with a case where the evidence is insufficient or contradictory, they may say "non liquet" and find for the defendant. This means that the judge cannot make a decision because the evidence is not clear enough to make a ruling.