Legal Definitions - lex de responsis prudentium

LEX DE RESPONSIS PRUDENTIUM

Lex de responsis prudentium is a Latin term that means "law on the replies of the jurisprudents." It refers to an A.D. 426 decree of Emperor Valentinian III in Roman law that listed five juristic writers, including Papinian, Paul, Gaius, Ulpian, and Modestinus, who could be cited authoritatively in court. If a majority of the writers agreed on an issue, the judge was bound to follow the majority view. The Law of Citations allowed the judge to 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 a judge was deciding a case and four of the five juristic writers agreed on a legal issue, the judge would be required to follow the majority view. However, if the writers were equally divided and Papinian did not have an opinion on the issue, the judge could use their discretion to make a decision.

Another example would be if a judge was deciding a case and three of the five juristic writers agreed on a legal issue, but the other two had conflicting opinions. In this case, the judge would still be required to follow the majority view and make their decision based on the three writers who agreed.

These examples illustrate how the lex de responsis prudentium helped to provide consistency and authority in legal decisions by requiring judges to follow the opinions of the majority of the juristic writers listed in the decree.