Ad Quaestiones Facti Non Respondent Judices; Ad Quaestione Legis Non Respondent Juratores Law & Legal Definition

Ad quaestiones facti non respondent judices; ad quaestione legis non respondent juratores is a legal maxim in Latin. It means ‘the judges do not answer to questions of fact; the jury do not answer to questions of law. ‘

The following is an example of a case where this maxim was referred to:

The general proposition is laid down in several elementary treatises, and in some reports, as a well established rule of law, that the judge, and not the jury, is to determine whether the defendant had probable cause. It being, as all admit, a mixed question of law and fact, this general denial of the right of the jury to participate in its decision would establish an exception to that great and salutary principle which lies at the foundation of the right of trial by jury; ad quaestiones facti non respondent judices; ad quaestiones legis non respondent juratores. [MASTEN v. DEYO, 2 Wend. 424, 427 (N.Y. 1829)].