Legal Definitions - Citations, Law of

Citations, Law of is a decree of Emperor Valentinian III in A.D. 426 that listed five juristic writers, Papinian, Paul, Gaius, Ulpian, and Modestinus, who could be cited authoritatively in court.

According to this law, if a majority of the writers agreed on an issue, the judge was bound to follow the majority view. The judge could use discretion only if the writers were equally divided, and Papinian, whose view prevailed in a tie, was silent on the issue.

For example, if four of the five writers agreed on a legal issue, the judge had to follow their view. However, if three writers agreed on one side, and two on the other, the judge could use discretion only if Papinian did not express his opinion on the issue.

The Law of Citations helped the courts deal with conflicting juristic literature by excluding a vast amount of doctrine whose relative value had not been determined. This law made it easier for judges to base their decisions on a source of principle.