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Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. [1] [2] [3] Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of stare decisis ("to stand by things decided"), where past judicial decisions serve as case law to guide future rulings, thus promoting consistency and predictability.
In the common law tradition, courts decide the law applicable to a case by interpreting statutes and applying precedents which record how and why prior cases have been decided. Unlike most civil law systems, common law systems follow the doctrine of stare decisis , by which most courts are bound by their own previous decisions in similar cases.
The Supreme Court follows a tradition of honoring precedent — most of the time.
Common law is deeply rooted in stare decisis ("to stand by things decided"), where courts follow precedents established by previous decisions. [5] When a similar case has been resolved, courts typically align their reasoning with the precedent set in that decision. [5]
Judicial restraint is a judicial interpretation that recommends favoring the status quo in judicial activities and is the opposite of judicial activism.Aspects of judicial restraint include the principle of stare decisis (that new decisions should be consistent with previous decisions); a conservative approach to standing (locus standi) and a reluctance to grant certiorari; [1] and a tendency ...
distinguishing a new principle that refines a prior principle, thus departing from prior practice without violating the rule of stare decisis; establishing a test or a measurable standard that can be applied by courts in future decisions. In the United States, landmark court decisions come most frequently from the Supreme Court.
The law of the case is a legal term of art that is applicable mainly in common law, or Anglo-American, jurisdictions that recognize the related doctrine of stare decisis. The phrase refers to instances where "rulings made by a trial court and not challenged on appeal become the law of the case."
By focusing so narrowly on an inflexible rule of stare decisis, the Court overlooked the very policies that stare decisis is meant to serve. Anticipatory overruling makes the law more responsive to change, it ensures litigants fair and equal treatment, it enhances the predictability of the law and it promotes judicial efficiency.