de minimis non curat lex
Meaning. The law does not concern itself with trifles.
Courts will not grant relief, or impose liability, for harm so slight that no person of ordinary sense would complain of it. The maxim keeps the courts free of trivial claims and stops the criminal law from punishing harmless technical breaches.
In Indian criminal law it is given statutory form by s.33 BNS (old s.95 IPC): nothing is an offence by reason of causing harm so slight that a person of ordinary sense and temper would not complain of it. Whether harm is trivial depends on the nature of the act and the circumstances, not on its money value alone. It is not a defence where the statute makes the slightest act punishable.
Example
Dipping a pen in another's inkpot without asking is covered by de minimis non curat lex and s.33 BNS.
In Indian law
- Section 33 BNS (old s.95 IPC): act causing slight harm
Read more in the study notes
- General exceptions: consent, good faith, compulsion and trifles (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Regulation of combinations: mergers, acquisitions and the deal value threshold (Competition Law)
- India and the WTO: objectives, functions, agreements and impact (Economic Development in India)
- Anti-dumping: GATT Article VI, the Uruguay Round code and Indian law (International Trade Economics)
- Subsidies and countervailing measures (International Trade Economics)