common law cases
Court-established legal rules
Common law cases are judicial decisions that establish legal precedents, as opposed to laws created by legislation.
In common law systems, courts build law incrementally through rulings that become binding on future cases with similar facts.
Lawyers research common law cases to predict how judges will rule: The attorney cited several common law cases supporting her argument.
- precedentPrior authoritative example
- legal precedentPrior ruling with authority
- judgeOne who decides
- verdictOfficial court decision
- court rulingJudicial decision on case
ruling · courtroom · litigation · plaintiff · defendant · burden of proof · jury · expert witness · testimony · statute · due process · tort · negligence · contract · appeal · doctrine · barrister · legal brief
common law casesstatutory law
Legislature-made legal rules
legislation · statutes · legislative acts · acts of parliament · constitutional law
common, commonly, uncommon, commons, commoner, commonest, commonality, commonness, communal