What is Test case (law)?
In [[case law]], a '''test case''' is a legal action whose purpose is to set a [[precedent]]. An example of a test case might be a person who files a [[lawsuit]] in order to see if the [[court]] considers a certain [[law]] or a certain legal [[precedent]] [[wikt:apply|applies]] in certain [[wikt:circumstance|circumstance]]s.<ref name=Farlex>{{cite web |url=http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/test+case |title=test case |publisher=The Free Dictionary/Farlex |access-date=23 March 2016}}</ref> This is useful, for example, in order to later file similar lawsuits in similar circumstances. Sometimes, lawyers delay filing a lawsuit to wait and see how a test case is decided.<ref name=Farlex/> Test cases are sometimes used to challenge a law to have it possibly overturned.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotusblog.com/2012/12/scotus-for-law-students-sponsored-by-bloomberg-law-test-cases/ |title=SCOTUS for law students (sponsored by Bloomberg Law): Test cases |author=Stephen Wermiel |date=20 December 2012 |publisher=SCOTUS for law students |access-date=23 March 2016}}</ref> [[Agency|Government agencies]] sometimes bring test cases in order to confirm or expand their powers. The decision in a test case may be a [[landmark decision]]. ==Examples== Examples of influential test cases include: # ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' (1896) # ''[[Scopes v Tennessee|Scopes v. Tennessee]]'' (1925) # ''[[United States v. One Book Called Ulysses]]'' (1933) # ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' (1954) # ''[[Griswold v. Connecticut]]'' (1965) # ''[[Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State v. Oneida County]]'' (1974) # ''[[Adams v Cape Industries plc]]'' (1990) # ''[[Mabo v Queensland|Mabo v Queensland (No 2)]]'' (1992) # ''[[National Westminster Bank plc v Spectrum Plus Limited]]'' (2005) # ''[[District of Columbia v. Heller]]'' (2008) == Notes == {{notelist}} ==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Legal terms]]