legal principle
Rule governing cases
A legal principle is a foundational rule or doctrine that guides how laws are interpreted and applied.
Legal principles like due process, equal protection, and precedent shape judicial reasoning across many specific cases.
Some derive from constitutions or statutes; others emerge from centuries of court decisions and legal tradition.
- literal interpretationTaking words at face value
- burden of proofDuty to prove allegations
- clear and convincingLegal proof threshold
- contractual obligationEnforceable promise in agreement
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
equality before the law · equal protection · presumption of innocence · reasonable doubt · proportionality · due process · rule of law · judicial review · natural justice · property rights · habeas corpus · textualism · discovery process · justice · originalism · human rights · fiduciary duty · good faith
- legal legacyprecedent, case law, landmark ruling, common law, court decision
- case lawcourt opinions, court cases, court decisions, binding precedent, judicial decisions
- common lawprecedent, binding precedent, case law, precedents, court rulings
- German LawRichter, constitutional court, constitutional law, federal law, basic law
- legal interpretationoriginalism, plain meaning, textualism, historical interpretation, literal interpretation
- legal writingscourt opinion, judicial opinion, law review, appellate brief, casebook
legal principlestatute
Enacted written rule
legislation · ordinance · statutory law · regulation · decree
legal, principle, legally, legality, legalize, legalization, illegal, illegally, illegality