Ignorantia Juris Non ExcusatThe Law Cuts Both Ways

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Ignorantia juris non excusat.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

This Roman maxim moved into English common law and continues to shape modern legal systems, including Canada.

Its application to citizens is clear.
If you breach a rule and say, “I didn’t know,” the answer is straightforward. You were expected to know. The law binds you whether you understood it or not.

Deadlines matter.
Procedure matters.
Jurisdiction matters.
Statutory wording matters.
The burden rests on the individual to understand the framework they are subject to.

But here is the structural tension.
If ignorance of the law is no excuse for the governed, how can it become an informal excuse for those who exercise authority under that same law?

Every administrative body, tribunal, regulator, and agency derives its power from statute. Their jurisdiction is defined by legislation. Their limits are defined by legislation. Their discretion exists because legislation permits it.

Without statute, there is no authority.

So the principle cannot logically operate in one direction.

If a worker is expected to understand entitlement provisions, reporting requirements, and procedural rules, then a decision maker is expected to understand jurisdictional limits, statutory obligations, and mandatory duties.

The rule cuts both ways.
Otherwise, we create asymmetry:
The citizen is penalized for misunderstanding the law.
The institution reframes misunderstanding as interpretation.
The citizen loses rights for missing technical thresholds.
The institution avoids scrutiny by fragmenting responsibility.

This is not about ideology. It is about structural coherence.
Law maintains legitimacy only when it binds authority as firmly as it binds the public.

Accountability is not hostility.
It is balance.
If ignorance excuses no one, it excuses no one.

Otherwise, what remains is selective enforcement.
And selective enforcement erodes trust in the system itself.
Shawn Raven

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