Oath in Litem Law and Legal Definition
Oath in litem refers to an oath taken by a plaintiff in testifying the value of a thing in dispute when there is no evidence of value exists or when the defendant has fraudulently suppressed the evidence of value.
The following is an example of case law on the admission of oath in litem.
Oath in litem is admitted in the following two classes of cases :
(i) When it is already proved that the party against whom the oath is offered is guilty of some fraud or other tortious and unwarrantable act of intermeddling with the goods of a complainant and no other evidence received regarding the amount of damage; and,
(ii) If it is deemed essential to the purposes of justice on general grounds of policy. [United States v. Clark, 96 U.S. 37, 47 (U.S. 1878)]
