Licitude

Licitude is the quality or state of being licit, meaning legally permitted or sanctioned within a given legal order. In English it denotes legality or lawfulness of actions, statutes, or institutions, and it is primarily used in legal, philosophical, or historical contexts rather than in everyday speech.

Etymology and usage notes: the term derives from Latin licitus “permitted,” from licere “to be allowed.” Licitude differs from the adjective licit and from illicit; licit is used as an adjective meaning legally permissible, while illicit denotes the opposite. In contemporary writing, licitude is relatively rare, with licitness or legality more commonly employed to express similar ideas.

Context and applications: licitude appears mainly in legal theory, doctrinal discussions, or comparative law where authors examine whether certain measures, rules, or institutions comply with the letter or spirit of the law. It can also arise in historical analyses of legal systems, where scholars contrast accepted norms with other forms of authorization.

Example usage: the licitude of emergency powers has been a subject of constitutional debate; courts may assess the licitude of exemptions or regulatory actions based on constitutional or statutory constraints. In practice, the term signals a focus on normative legality rather than moral permissibility alone.

See also: licit, illicit, legality, lawfulness, legitimacy, permissibility.