名著探究

In law, common law, also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law, is the body of law created by judges and tribunals. Unlike statutory law, the common law is contained and developed within written opinions and judgments. In cases where parties disagree on what the law is, a common law court looks to past decisions of relevant courts, and synthesizes the principles of those past cases as applicable to the current facts. If a similar dispute has been resolved, the court is usually bound to follow the reasoning used in the prior decision (a principle known as stare decisis). If, however, the court finds that the current dispute is fundamentally distinct from all previous cases, and legislative statutes are either silent or ambiguous on the question, judges have the authority and duty to resolve the issue. The court states an opinion that gives reasons for the decision, and those reasons agglomerate with past decisions as precedent to bind future judges and litigants. Comm...