What does a signature
mean? I will tell you right now that when you sign something (no matter what
“they” say), it means that you accept liability. And if you don’t read and
agree to EVERYTHING you sign, you are making a big mistake.
I am constantly being
asked… “How do I sign my name? … AND maintain my rights?”
We all know that
before they let us go, they ALWAYS want us to sign something to keep us coming
back. There are other points in the “legal” system where a “signature” is
expected or required before the court can proceed as well.
I have heard that
adding “Under Duress”, or “All Rights Reserved” to a signature when signing a
document will maintain our inherent human rights; and while this could work as
well, the proper and Latin way to sign under duress is to add a “V.C.” before
your name.
Vi Coactus,
abbreviated to V.C., is a latin term. The website wikipedia cites the
definition of vi coactus as:
“constrained by
force”. Used when forced to sign (“or else …”)
Perhaps the most
famous use of vi coactus when signing a document was that of Cornelius de Witt.
Alexandre Dumas captured the event as follows:
The Grand Pensionary
bowed before the will of his fellow citizens; Cornelius de Witt, however, was
more obstinate, and notwithstanding all the threats of death from the Orangist
rabble, who besieged him in his house at Dort, he stoutly refused to sign the
act by which the office of Stadtholder was restored. Moved by the tears and
entreaties of his wife, he at last complied, only adding to his signature the
two letters V. C. (Vi Coactus), notifying thereby that he only yielded to
force.
There is scant
authoritative information regarding this term on the web. However, on the One
Heaven Society of United Free States of Spirits website the following
information is provided:
The Bar want you to
sign as surety.
At key points in a
Court case, the Bar members want you to sign certain documents. Why? Because
your signature is like your vocalized consent – it can be legally interpreted as
your agreement to be surety for an obligation and to perform as well as to
waive other rights.
Do you have to sign?
No you don’t. But in many cases, the Bar has designed a system so that if you
don’t it is interpreted as dishonor so that they can invoke their power of
attorney powers to declare you delinquent, incompetent and send you to prison
anyway.
This is why you may
have heard of people who refused to sign the papers when entering prison and
yet were treated worse than most serious criminals, with complete apparent
ignorance of their rights- why? because the system is designed at certain
points where you MUST sign. So how do you overcome an unjust and unfair system
that forces a man or woman to sign under duress, against their will and yet
interprets such signatures as valid under Canon Law? The answer is making sure
your signature follows a clear mark of duress.
Vi Coactus
Before you sign
anything under duress, in order not to be unfairly determined as in dishonor
and incompetent, you may lawfully initial in large letters the letters V.C.
where you will sign, then sign your name after- always after.
What V.C. stands for
is Latin for Vi Coactus which means literally “under constraint”. This should
normally be sufficient on any document which you are forced to sign to bear
witness to the fact that it was done under duress.
Now, at the earliest
opportunity before the court or official, you can make it known that upon
review of your signature it can be proven to have been forced under threat and
coercion and so cannot be used as legally binding agreement.
In some locations and
in some prisons as this knowledge grows, it is possible that law enforcement
officials may start to reject such signatures, adding more threat and force on
a person to sign without using V.C. It is your choice remembering that if you
allow such criminal intimidation and torture to prevail and do sign without
protest then the system can simply lie and state you made such a sign of your
“own free will”.
So if they tear up the
paperwork and demand you do it again, stating that such a signature is unlawful
then such claims are against the laws of the Roman Cult Canon Law- the actual
law that underpins their own statutes and regulations. However, if after
several attempts they still refuse, there is a second method equally valid- the
use of ellipse.
The use of ellipses
When the threat of
intimidation or outright rejection of lawful protest is too great, then a
second and equally valid method of signing under protest is permitted, namely the
use of three full stops placed first, followed by the signature so that the
three dots are not obscured by the signature.
This is called an
ellipsis eg “…” and indicates that legally there was a form of words you wanted
to state but were unable due to some event, in this case because of threat and
coercion.
Thus, at the earliest
opportunity the ellipsis can be revealed and it can be stated that you intended
to write V.C. but were prevented therefore nullifying any agreement.
It would be of
interest to the author if there have been any more recent cases where V.C. has
been used to sign a document. There appears to have been a case in Indonesia
where Dutch interests signed V.C., however, the author does not have full
access to the journal in question:
The Measures Taken by
the Indonesian Government against …by I Login – 1958 – Related articles
Authority” or “o.p.”
(under protest) or “v.c.” (vi coactus). And that, of course, was preciously
what it was: compelled by force. …
Source:
journals.cambridge.org/article_S0165070X00029879
Further definitions
and their sources:
Black’s Law Dictionary
(9th edition)
The ninth edition does
not provide a definition for vi coactus.
Cassell’s Latin
Dictionary (27th edition, 1955, pp.103)
Coactus - a
compulsion, compelling; coactu atque efflagitatu meo, cic.
The Oxford Latin
Dictionary ABS-LIB (1968, pp. 339)
coactus1
1. Compressed,
condensed; (of milk) curdled. b (neut. pl. as sb.) felt cloak.
2. Unnatural,
artificial, forced, contrived.
3. (of instruments,
actions, etc.) Unwilling, forced. b. required by law, compulsory.
coactus2
Compulsion,
constraint.
Interestingly,
Cassell’s Latin Dictionary and the Oxford Latin Dictionary provide the
additional definitions:
Cassell’s Latin
Dictionary:
coacto – To compel.
coactor – 1. a
collector of rents, money at auctions, etc. 2. One who compels.
References
List
of Lation abbreviations (wikipedia.org)
Dumas, Alexandre – Black Tulip, The (literature.org)
Signing in protest and under duress (one-heaven.org)
Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, pp.103 (exfacie.com)
Oxford Latin Dictionary, pp.339 (exfacie.com)
Dumas, Alexandre – Black Tulip, The (literature.org)
Signing in protest and under duress (one-heaven.org)
Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, pp.103 (exfacie.com)
Oxford Latin Dictionary, pp.339 (exfacie.com)
Note: Correction to
the reference from one-heaven.org was applied (removing the term ellipse for
ellipsis). Thanks to Gerald for identifying this correction.
Article courtesy
of Freedom From
Government (http://freedomfromgovernment.org/)
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