A legal fiction is an assumption and acceptance of something as fact by a court, although it may not be true, to allow a rule to operate or be applied in a manner that differs from its original purpose while leaving the letter of the law unchanged. Reasons for creating a legal fiction can vary but legal fictions are typically designed to achieve convenience, consistency, equity, or justice.
For example, where a court cannot exercise in personam jurisdiction over a defendant, it can bring that defendant under its jurisdiction via quasi in rem subtype 2 jurisdiction. The latter is a form of personal jurisdiction that uses a defendant’s property to satisfy a claim against them, and is a legal fiction because it treats the owner of the property as a defendant although the subject of the suit is technically the property itself.
Another common legal fiction is legal personhood or corporate personhood in business law. Incorporation of businesses required the creation of the legal fiction of corporate personhood so that corporations could sue and be sued in courts.
[Last updated in June of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]