Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

responsa prudentium

[Latin "the answers of the learned"] Hist. The opinions and judgments of eminent lawyers or jurists on questions of law addressed to them. ( The responsa prudentium originally constituted part of the early Roman civil law. Roman citizens seeking legal advice, as well as magistrates and judges, often referred legal questions to leading jurists so as to obtain their opinions (responsa). The responsa of some leading jurists were collected, much in the manner of caselaw digests, and many of them passed into Justinian's Digest. The phrase responsa prudentium gradually migrated to the common law, but today it is of primarily historical use. - Also spelled responsa prudentum.