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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.
The court's ability to legislate through precedent, its inability to question validly enacted law through legislative supremacy and parliamentary sovereignty, and the role of the Europe-wide institutions to legislate, execute and judge on matters also define the boundaries of the UK system.
These past decisions are called "case law", or precedent. Stare decisis—a Latin phrase meaning "let the decision stand"—is the principle by which judges are bound to such past decisions, drawing on established judicial authority to formulate their positions.
Establishing a "test" (that is, a measurable standard that can be applied by courts in future decisions), such as the Oakes test (in Canadian law) or the Bolam test (in English law). Sometimes, with regard to a particular provision of a written constitution, only one court decision has been made.
Judicial review is a part of UK constitutional law that enables people to challenge the exercise of power, usually by a public body. A person who contends that an exercise of power is unlawful may apply to the Administrative Court (a part of the King's Bench Division of the High Court) for a decision. If the court finds the decision unlawful it ...
Case Law. Judicial precedent (aka: case law, or judge-made law) is based on the doctrine of stare decisive, and mostly associated with jurisdictions based on the English common law, but the concept has been adopted in part by Civil Law systems. Precedent is the accumulated principles of law derived from centuries of decisions.
Applying - simply following the precedent, and using its ratio in the current case. Approval - showing approval of the earlier case, without necessarily applying it. [11] Overruling - declaring the precedent to be wrong, making it bad law. [12] [13] Disapproval - showing disapproval of the earlier case, without necessarily overruling it. [14] [15]
The rule of law is contrasted with rule by men and the arbitrary power one man or government official might exercise over the other. [9] Allan thus supports the idea that there are core features of the rule of law, including government acting within its legal authority. [10]