above the law

English

Pronunciation

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Prepositional phrase

above the law

1. (idiomatic) Exempt from the laws that apply to everyone else.

   The emperor is above the law.

   You may think you're above the law, but you're not.

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     'The law,' she laughed with scorn - 'the law! Canst thou not understand, oh Holly, that I am above the law, and so shall my Kallikrates be also? All human law will be to us as the north wind to a mountain.'

   • 2022 August 26, “Donald Trump Is Not Above the Law”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     If we hesitate to call those actions and their perpetrator criminal, then we are saying he is above the law and giving license to future presidents to do whatever they want.

Translations

exempt from the laws that apply to everyone else

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 凌駕於法律之上／凌驾于法律之上 (língjià yú fǎlǜ zhīshàng)

• Dutch: boven de wet
• Finnish: lain yläpuolella
• French: au-dessus des lois
• German: über dem Gesetz
• Greek: υπεράνω του νόμου (yperáno tou nómou)
• Italian: al di sopra della legge
• Japanese: 法の埒外 (ほうのらちがい, hō no rachigai)
• Polish: ponad prawem
• Portuguese: acima da lei
• Russian: превы́ше зако́на (prevýše zakóna)
• Spanish: por encima de la ley

See also

• law unto oneself