Consensus Tollit Errorem Definition:

The maxim is very similar to volenti non fit injuria.

As was said by chief justice Brickell in McNeil v. State of Alabama:

"Consent removes or obviates mistakes or errors in the course of judicial proceedings. Consensus tollit errorem, is a conservative maxim of general application."

In the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Justice Brown used these words (in County of Racine v Smith) to dismiss an application to attempt, after the fact of it, to avoid a guilty plea:

"He cannot be heard to complain of an act to which he deliberately consents - consensus tollit errorem."

Or these clear words of Justice Shulman of the Court of Appeals of Georgia in Carroll v. Equico Lessors:

"An appeal does not lie from a judgment rendered by the consent of the appellant - consensus tollit errorem."

REFERENCES:

• Carroll v. Equico Lessors, 233 SE 2d 255 (1977)
• County of Racine v. Smith, 362 NW 2d 439 (1984)
• Skinner v. State of Alabama, 71 Ala. 71