precedent
Earlier guiding case
A precedent is an earlier instance that serves as a guide or justification for later ones.
In law, precedents are past court decisions that establish how similar cases should be decided: The ruling set a precedent for future discrimination cases.
More broadly, any prior action can set precedent: There's no precedent for canceling the event.
Something unprecedented has never happened before.
As an adjective (pronounced with stress on the second syllable), precedent means coming before: conditions precedent to the agreement.
Judge-made legal doctrine
- jurisprudencePhilosophy governing legal systems
- court rulingJudicial decision on case
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
- appellateRelating to appeals
doctrine · adjudication · verdict · common law · tribunal · ruling · decision · citation
Single occurrence of something
- caseContainer or instance
- exemplarTypical perfect instance
- paradigmGoverning framework of thought
- illustrationPicture explaining something
specimen · archetype · prototype · analog · sample · pattern · benchmark · standard
Representation or paradigm
- blueprintDetailed technical drawing
- prototypeFirst functional specimen
- frameworkUnderlying support system
- patternRecurring arrangement or template
guide · standard · reference · formula · playbook · roadmap · guideline · format
One that comes before
- precursorSomething that comes first
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
- pathfinderOne who discovers routes
harbinger · groundbreaker · innovator · originator · founder · progenitor · ancestor · vanguard
Habitual group practice
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
- practiceRepeated work toward mastery
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- normAccepted behavioral standard
established practice · ritual · protocol · etiquette · usage · observance · institution · mores
case law
Judge-made legal doctrine
- jurisprudencePhilosophy governing legal systems
- court rulingJudicial decision on case
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
appellate · doctrine · adjudication · verdict · common law · tribunal · ruling · decision · citation · opinion
instance
Single occurrence of something
illustration · specimen · archetype · prototype · analog · sample · pattern · benchmark · standard · criterion
model
Representation or paradigm
- blueprintDetailed technical drawing
- prototypeFirst functional specimen
- frameworkUnderlying support system
pattern · guide · standard · reference · formula · playbook · roadmap · guideline · format · boilerplate
forerunner
One that comes before
- precursorSomething that comes first
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
pathfinder · harbinger · groundbreaker · innovator · originator · founder · progenitor · ancestor · vanguard · initiator
custom
Habitual group practice
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
- practiceRepeated work toward mastery
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
norm · established practice · ritual · protocol · etiquette · usage · observance · institution · mores · unwritten rule
- lawlaw, lawyer, lawyers, attorney, attorneys
- ruleslaw, rule, guideline, bylaw, standard
- legal analysiscase law, statute, legal research, legal memo, legal opinion
- legal conventionsdue process, burden of proof, statute of limitations, habeas corpus, plea bargain
- legal historylegal history, medieval law, Roman law, Roman jurisprudence, common law
- legal legacycase law, landmark ruling, legal doctrine, common law, court decision
precedentsubsequent
Occurring after something else
following · succeeding · ensuing · later · posterior
precedentunprecedented
Never having occurred before
first-of-its-kind · precedentless · novel · uncharted · groundbreaking
precedentoverruling
Nullifying by superior power
reversal · departure · judicial activism · exception · anomaly
- legal precedentsPrior rulings guiding courts
- historical precedentPast event informing present
- court precedentsPrior rulings binding courts
- judicial precedentPrior ruling guiding courts
- precedent settingEstablishing basis for future decisions
- binding precedentPrior ruling courts must follow
precede, precedence, unprecedented, preceded, precedes, precedents, precedented