sui juris

American  

[soo-ahy joor-is, soo-ee] / ˈsu aɪ ˈdʒʊər ɪs, ˈsu i /

adjective

Law.

1. capable of managing one's affairs or assuming legal responsibility.

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sui juris British  

/ ˈsuːaɪ ˈdʒʊərɪs /

adjective

1. (usually postpositive) law of full age and not under disability; legally competent to manage one's own affairs; independent

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Etymology

Origin of sui juris

First recorded in 1605–15, sui juris is from Latin suī jūris “of one's own right”

Example Sentences

Ulpian, Tit., vi, 6: Divortio facto, si quidem sui juris sit muller, ipsa habet rei uxoriae actionem, id est, dotis repetitionem; quodsi in potestate patris sit, pater adiuncta filiae persona habet actionem.

From A Short History of Women's Rights From the Days of Augustus to the Present Time. with Special Reference to England and the United States. Second Edition Revised, With Additions. by Hecker, Eugene Arthur

From the time of Diocletian the woman who was sui juris was a subject of the state without intermediary, just as her brother or husband was, and she enjoyed free disposition of herself.

From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by Sumner, William Graham

The postulant, who must be at least twenty years old, is examined in order to ascertain that he is sui juris and has no disqualifying disease or other impediment.

From Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 1 by Eliot, Charles, Sir

With the sudden promotion to the category of persons sui juris, the poor "child" was a prey to great distress, everything worried her, everything was an insuperable difficulty.

From The Grandee by Palacio Valdés, Armando

For we never, in our natural experience, encounter an existing individual substance, or nature, or agent, that is not distinct, autonomous, independent, sui juris, and incommunicable in its mode of being and acting.

From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter

Related Words

• autonomous
• democratic
• freed
• independent
• separate