Male captus, bene detentus
“Wrongly captured, properly detained.”
Legal maxim
What does “Male captus, bene detentus” mean?
Male captus, bene detentus translates as “Wrongly captured, properly detained.”
The legal view that an unlawful arrest does not stop a court from trying the accused.
“Male captus, bene detentus” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Male | badly, wrongly | adverb; here it means unlawfully or improperly |
| captus | captured, seized | perfect passive participle (masculine singular nominative) of capio, “I take, capture”; refers to the person seized |
| bene | well, properly | adverb; the opposite of male |
| detentus | held, detained | perfect passive participle (masculine singular nominative) of detineo, “I hold back, detain”; refers to the same person |
How to pronounce “Male captus, bene detentus”
The two pronunciations sound the same here, because none of the words has c or g before e or i. Stress the first syllable of male, captus and bene, and the second syllable of detentus.
The story behind it
Word for word the maxim says “badly captured, well detained”. The two halves mirror each other: male against bene, captus against detentus. The idea is that how a person was seized is a separate question from whether he can be held and tried.
It is a modern legal maxim, not a line from a Roman author, and the Latin is a later coinage. It belongs to the law of jurisdiction, where it is usually called the Ker-Frisbie doctrine in the United States.
It is best known from international criminal law. Adolf Eichmann was abducted from Argentina in 1960 and tried in Israel in 1961, and the doctrine was invoked in that case. It remains debated, since critics argue that a state should not profit from an unlawful seizure.
How to use “Male captus, bene detentus”
Mostly at home in legal writing, law-school essays and discussions of extradition, abduction and jurisdiction. It is a poor fit for a tattoo or a general motto, because its meaning is narrow and technical, and many readers will find it cold or controversial.
- Latin
- Male captus, bene detentus
- English
- Wrongly captured, properly detained.
- Source
- Legal maxim
- Era
- Modern
- Theme
- Justice
Common mistakes
- It is not a classical Roman saying. It is a modern legal maxim, so do not credit it to Cicero or any ancient jurist.
- It does not mean that the arrest was lawful. The maxim concedes the capture was wrong, but says the court may still try the accused.
- Do not read it as a universal rule. Many courts and scholars reject or limit it, especially where the seizure involved serious violations of rights.
- Captus and detentus are masculine singular. For a woman or a group the endings change (capta, detenta; capti, detenti), but the standard maxim is not usually altered.
Questions about “Male captus, bene detentus”
What does “Male captus, bene detentus” mean literally?
“Badly captured, well detained”, usually put in English as “wrongly captured, properly detained”.
Who said “Male captus, bene detentus”?
No single author is known. It is a modern legal maxim, not a quotation from an ancient writer.
How do you pronounce “Male captus, bene detentus”?
In Classical Latin: MAH-leh KAHP-toos BEH-neh deh-TEN-toos. The Church pronunciation is the same for this phrase.
What does “Male captus, bene detentus” mean in law?
It means that an unlawful arrest or abduction does not by itself prevent a court from trying the accused. It is debated in international criminal law, and the Eichmann trial of 1961 is a well-known example.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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