We are developing a standard REST service using HTTP status codes as its response code if something went wrong. (e.g. invalid user input would return \"400 Bad Request\" to
If this proposal is accepted, it presents an alternative for sending detail error messages. [http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-nottingham-http-browser-hints]
Despite it being an I-D, it's fairly stable lately, and I see no problem with building your own implementation. (I have done.)