mutatis mutandis
Meaning. With the necessary changes having been made.
Mutatis mutandis is used when a provision written for one situation is applied to another, so that the details (names, parties, dates, authorities) must be changed to fit, while the substance stays the same.
Statutes use the phrase to apply provisions by reference, for example applying procedural rules for suits to other proceedings. It does not authorise changes in substance; only adjustments needed to make the borrowed provision workable in the new context are allowed.
Example
The rules on appeals from decrees apply mutatis mutandis to appeals from orders, so references to the decree are read as references to the order.
In Indian law
- Order XLIII, Rule 2, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (rules of Order XLI apply to appeals from orders)
See also
Read more in the study notes
- Assignment, transmission, relinquishment, licences and copyright societies (Intellectual Property Rights II)