“In times of war, law falls silent.”

A Latin maxim attributed to  Marcus Tullius Cicero (Pro Milone, 52 BC).

In fact this is very far from being true, in modern times at least, both at the international level (with war crimes tribunals) and in the domestic sphere, as cases such as Liversidge v Anderson [1942] AC 206 demonstrate. Lord Atkin in that case memorably observed, at p 244, “In this country, amid the clash of arms, the laws are not silent.”