Precedent

Precedent, sometimes authority, is the legal principle or rule created by a court which guides judges in subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.

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Mandatory precedent, or binding authority, is a precedent under the doctrine of stare decisis that a lower court must consider when deciding a case. Mandatory precedent is usually created by appellate courts. Mandatory precedent is binding on lower courts. Lower court decisions, by definition, cannot be binding on higher courts, although appellate courts often adopt the legal reasoning of lower courts.

Court: :This article is about courts of law. For alternative meanings see: court (disambiguation)....

Judge: A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. The powers, functions, method of appointment, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. More generally, a "judge" may be a qualified person who evaluates and passes judgment on something. For example, a judge at a ...

Stare decisis: Stare decisis (Latin:, Anglicisation:, "to stand by things decided") is a Latin legal term, used in common law to express the notion that prior court decisions must be recognized as precedents, according to case law....