Ab Absurdo

Latin for “from the absurd”

“Ab absurdo” or “argumentum ab absurdo” are Latin phrases that refer to an assertion that leads to an absurd, contradictory, or impossible conclusion.

In the law, the terms may refer to a statutory interpretation or an evidentiary suggestion that is, or leads to, an absurdity. Specifically, the term can refer to a pattern or set of suggested legal reasoning or interpretation that leads to an unacceptable conclusion because it results in a conclusion that is patently absurd.

REFERENCE DESK

Sir Peter Benson Maxwell, On the Interpretation of Statutes:

Where the language of a statute, in its ordinary meaning and grammatical construction, leads to a manifest contradiction of the apparent purpose of the enactment, or to some inconvenience or absurdity which can hardly have been intended, a construction may be put upon it which modifies the meaning of the words and even the structure of the sentence. This may be done by departing from the rules of grammar, by giving an unusual meaning to particular words, or by rejecting them altogether, on the ground that the legislature could not possibly have intended what its words signify, and that the modifications made are mere corrections of careless language and really give the true meaning.