is a Latin phrase, meaning "Let justice be done, though the world perish".Fiat iustitia, pereat mundus – Oxford Reference
This sentence was the motto of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (1556–1564), who used it as his slogan, and it became an important rule to control the nation.SNU Law It probably originated from Johannes Jacobus Manlius's book (1563).'Loci Communes Manlii : das ist: Herrliche Schöne Historien Allerley Selten unnd neuwen Exempel, Gleichniß ...' – Digitalisat | MDZ It is a maxim meaning that a just decision should be made at whatever cost in terms of practical consequences. An alternative phrase is , meaning "Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall."
A famous use is by Immanuel Kant, in his 1795 Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch (), to summarize the counter-utilitarian nature of his moral philosophy, in the form , which he paraphrases as "Let justice reign even if all the rascals in the world should perish from it."
Ludwig von Mises wrote in Human Action, "The utilitarian economist does not say: . He says: ." (Let Justice be done, so that the world won't perish, or, Let justice be done, lest the world perish).
See also , a similar phrase
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