There is a hoary L. legal maxim: ignorantia iuris neminem excusat, ignorance of the law excuses nobody.
Excuse schal hym naght his ignorance.
[c 1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimene Principum (EETS) 92]
Ignorance of the law though it be inuincible doth not excuse.
[1530 C. St. German Dialogues in English ii. xlvi.]
The ignorance of the law excuseth no man.
[1616 T. Draxe Adages 100]
Ignorance of the Law excuses no man; not that all Men know the Law, but because 'tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to confute him.
[a 1654 J. Selden Table-Talk (1689) 30]
Ignorance of the law excuses nobody. ‥The gates of mercy are forever shut against them.
[1830 N. Ames Mariner's Sketches xxviii.]
[He] was fined £5 at Marylebone Court when he learned that ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it.
[1979 Private Eye 17 Aug. 6]
Related to: excuses; law and lawyers
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
