ultra vires
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˈʌltrə ˈvaɪriz/
- Formal
:
ultravires
- An action taken by the council without proper authority is considered ultra vires and can be overturned in court.
Examples
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The contract was deemed ultra vires because the official did not have the jurisdiction to sign it.
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She was warned that any decisions made without the board's approval would be ultra vires and legally invalid.
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Thus, at no stage of the Convention was there a consensus that the delegates were acting in an ultra vires manner.
Academic text (2016) -
38. Responsibility for acts of state organs even extends to ultra vires acts.
Academic text (2017) -
Otherwise, without the requisite authority, an agreement will be declared void as ultra vires.
Academic text (2001) -
Unlawful orders are ultra vires and cannot confer public authority or create a public duty to act.
Academic text (2018) -
As a threshold issue, a municipality must have express authority to enter into development agreements to avoid an agreement being declared void as ultra vires.
Academic text (2001) -
There is no attribution to the State because the non-State actor implemented the instruction in a way that was ultra vires.
Academic text (2017) -
The unlawful nature of the arrest did not render the arrest ultra vires: the officers remained state agents even when they exceeded statutory limits on their conduct.
Academic text (2018) -
I think that the two additional legal standards are ultra vires, or beyond the authority of the IAEA to apply to Iran and to be the basis for investigations and assessments by the IAEA.
Blog text (7)
Synonyms
1
8.4
Not regulated or approved by law
In a way that is outside the law
Antonyms
How Authorised
- Formal
- Formal
1
9.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
ultra + vires
This is a Latin legal phrase: while 'ultra' can be understood as 'beyond', 'vires' is not an ordinary English word (and is unlikely to be known by a B1 learner). The meaning 'beyond the legal power' is specialist legal jargon rather than a straightforward composition of familiar English words, so learners who only know the listed constituents would not reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Ultra vires comes from Latin words ultra and vires, which mean 'beyond' and 'power'. The image is of someone going past their allowed power, so an act that is ultra vires is 'beyond' their 'power' and is not legally valid.