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Arescript is a public government document. More formally, it is a document issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response to a question (usually legal) posed to the author. The word originates from replies issued by Roman emperors to such questions and is also used in modern legal terminology and thePapal curia.[1]
Rescripts may take various forms, from a formal document of an established type, such as aPapal bull, to the forwarding of the demand with a simple mention by way of decision, something like "rejected" or "awarded", either to the party concerned or to the competent executive office to be carried out.
The wordrescript derives from the Latin nounrescriptum[2] which itself derives from the Latin verbrescribo, meaning "to write back or... reply in writing". It developed its specialised legal meaning due to regular responses by emperors or lawyers to petitions or legal questions.[3]
By analogy the term rescript is also applied to similar procedures in other contexts, such as theOttoman,Chinese andJapanese imperial courts, or even prior to the Roman empire. Two well-known examples of Japanese Imperial rescripts wereEmperor Hirohito's 1945Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War written in response to thePotsdam Declaration and his 1946Humanity Declaration written in response to a request by GeneralDouglas MacArthur.
While the most common author of a rescript was nominally the emperor, the term referred generally to replies written by various officials from the local or provincial level to bishops in the religious hierarchy.[4] During the highRoman Empire the emperor had an officer, themagister libellorum, to deal with petitions (Latin:libelli) from citizens and draft replies. Those replies, originally written at the bottom of the petition, are thought to have been written largely by themagister libellorum and only issued in the emperor's name.[4] Due to the legal nature of many of those petitions and since the emperor served as a final court of appeal, the office was regularly held by jurists. Among these werePapinianus orUlpian.[5]
These rescripts, as written answers from the imperial chancery, came to have legislative effect and took on two general forms: letters (Latin:epistulae) and subscriptions (a response validated by the emperor's written signature underneath;Latin:subscriptiones).[6] Some important early legal collections were composed largely of rescripts, for instance the CodicesGregorianus andHermogenianus.[5] Many imperial rescripts are preserved in the Justinian'sCodex which restated the body of Roman law.[6]
InFrance, people have the possibility to ask an administration for arescrit (rescript), which means that they will present to the competent administration a circumstanced particular case, and obtain a formal answer (therescrit) by the administration explaining how the law will be applied to the submitted particular case. The rescript is binding for the administration, and may be used before a court of law to exonerate the person who asked for the rescript in case of prosecution. InEnglish common law such ahypothetical process is not allowed, and cases must be determined on fact.
Japanese Emperors have issued Rescripts, including theHirohito surrender broadcast and theHumanity Declaration.
In imperial China, "rescript for most of Chinese history simply means imperial response, usually in the form of a comment on an incoming memorial, either sent back to the original sender or transmitted in the form of an instruction."[7] Different terms have been used to refer to rescripts, includingchìzhǐ (敕旨),zhàozhǐ (诏旨;詔旨), orshèngzhǐ (圣旨;聖旨). Palace memorials with the emperor's comments inred ink were calledzhūpī zòuzhé (朱批奏折;硃批奏摺; 'memorial to the throne (which isfolded in concertina form) containing remarks written invermilion').
Papal rescripts concern the granting of favours or the administration of justice undercanon law. InRoman Catholicism rescripts are responses in writing by thepope or aCongregation of theRoman Curia to queries or petitions of individuals.[8]
TheMassachusetts appellate courts issue rescripts to the lower courts. These are the equivalent of mandates (i.e. writs ofmandamus) in federal appellate practice.[9]