A Latin term literally meaning "things general do not derogate from things special".

This is a common law principle for construing legislation which holds that a syntactical presumption may be made that where there is a conflict between a general and a specific provision, the specific provision will prevail. Other common syntactical presumptions are ejusdem generis and expressio unius est exclusio alterius.

See also Practice note: overview, Construing federal legislation.