Also known as: speciei facti · specific facts · particular facts of the case
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A Latin phrase in Scots law referring to the particular character of the thing done. It identifies the specific criminal act or civil wrong alleged in a proceeding.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Pioneer Marine learned that the City of Chesapeake planned to revoke its early-morning berthing slot at dawn. Its verified complaint set out the species facti of the threatened loss, including the perishable cargo and sole client contract that would collapse the business. The court relied on those particulars to evaluate whether immediate harm justified ex parte relief.
Stephen Shaw testified in a contract dispute. The opposing party sought to introduce his twelve-year-old conviction for fraud. The proponent supplied the species facti of the offense, showing how the elements required proof of a dishonest act, and argued that the probative value substantially outweighed prejudice.
Environmental groups sued federal agencies over a regulatory change affecting endangered species habitat. The complaint detailed the species facti of the members' planned visits to the affected areas and the concrete injury they would suffer. The court examined those specific allegations to decide whether standing existed.
A radio station broadcast a recording of a private conversation obtained without consent. The plaintiffs alleged the species facti of the interception and the station's subsequent publication. The court assessed whether those particulars triggered First Amendment protections for the disclosure.
The government sued a trucking company alleging systemic racial discrimination in hiring. The complaint pleaded the species facti of repeated refusals to consider minority applicants despite qualifications. The court used those concrete instances to evaluate whether a pattern of unlawful conduct existed.
A state college declined to renew a professor's contract after one year. The professor claimed a property interest based on the species facti of oral assurances and past renewal practices. The court examined those specific circumstances to determine whether due process protections attached.
The phrase requires a pleader to set forth the particular character of the act or wrong, meaning the concrete facts that identify the specific conduct at issue rather than general conclusions.
Species facti demands the specific details of the act itself, such as dates, parties, and the precise nature of the conduct, whereas a legal conclusion merely asserts liability without those underlying particulars.
The phrase appears most often in Scots law when a party must identify the exact criminal act or civil wrong to establish the basis for liability or to satisfy pleading requirements.
…rather than chronology. Lujan , since it involved the establishment of injury in fact at the summary judgment stage , required specific facts to be adduced by sworn testimony; had the same challenge to a generalized allegation of injury in fact been made at the pleading stage, it would have been unsuccessful. [^maj-4]: In that…