It can be traced back to the Roman jurist Quintus Cervidius Scaevola (2nd century AD) and is to this day referred to in different legal systems and contexts.
In its original form, the adage means that private law is written for those persons who are vigilant in pursuing their interests and diligently care for their own affairs.
[4] The adage can be traced back to the Roman jurist Quintus Cervidius Scaevola, who lived in the 2nd century AD[5] and was praefectus vigilum during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
It more specifically notes that a claim collected by a single (vigilant) creditor shortly before the opening of bankruptcy proceedings (missio in bona) should stay in place and not be subject to an actio Pauliana.
quid ergo, si, cum in eo essent, ut bona debitoris mei venirent, solverit mihi pecuniam, an actione revocari ea possit a me?
sed vigilavi, meliorem meam condicionem feci, ius civile vigilantibus scriptum est: ideoque non revocatur id quod percepi.
For example, in 1973, Alberto Trabucchi [it] wrote: This difference of treatment is not discrimination, but is merely the consistent application of the ancient and still valid maxim "vigilantibus, non dormientibus, iura succurrunt".Niilo Jääskinen used a similar variant in a 2011 opinion: At the outset, I note that these cases call to mind two maxims that are well known in all legal systems: first, the fact that rights come to those who are vigilant, not to those who sleep (iura vigilantibus, non dormientibus prosunt) and, secondly, that no one can make a claim based on his own wrongdoing (nemo auditur propriam turpitudinem allegans).Circuit judge Paul V. Niemeyer used yet another variation of the adage in a footnote to a 2001 opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (243 F.3d 789) and linked it with the common law doctrine of laches: The doctrine of laches is based on the maxim that equity aids the vigilant, not those who sleep on their rights.
In a 2006 opinion of the Labour Court of Lesotho ([2006] LSLC 7) the adage was also put to use: A man whose allegedly legal interests are threatened should be vigilant in protecting them.
Vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt may not be a rule of law, but it seems to be a maxim having some application in this instance.The brocard has been used by Walter Benjamin in his work Toward the Critique of Violence.