What is Legal precedent?
{{globalise|date=January 2024}} In [[common law]] legal systems, a '''precedent''' or '''authority''' is a [[legal case]] that [[wikt:establish|establish]]es a [[principle]] or [[rule]].<ref name=precedentLII>{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/precedent |title=Precedent |author= |website= |publisher=Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School |accessdate=14 February 2016}}</ref> This principle or rule is then used by the [[court]] or other [[Judiciary|judicial bodies]] use when deciding later cases with similar [[wikt:issue|issue]]s or facts.<ref name=precedentLII/> The use of precedent provides [[wikt:predictability|predictability]], [[wikt:stability|stability]], [[fairness]], and [[wikt:efficiency|efficiency]] in the law. The [[Latin]] term '''''stare decisis''''' is the [[doctrine]] of legal precedent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/stare_decisis |title=Stare decisis |author= |website= |publisher=Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School |accessdate=14 February 2016}}</ref> The precedent on an issue is the body of judicially announced principles that a court should consider when interpreting the law. When a precedent establishes an important legal [[principle]], or represents new or changed law on a particular issue, that precedent is often known as a [[landmark decision]]. Precedent is central to legal analysis and rulings in countries that follow common law like the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Canada]] (except [[Quebec]]). In some systems precedent is not binding but is taken into account by the courts. ==Types of precedent== === Binding precedent === Precedent that must be applied or followed is known as ''[[binding]] precedent'' (alternately ''mandatory precedent'', ''mandatory'' or ''binding authority'', etc.). Under the doctrine of ''[[stare decisis]]'', a [[lower court]] must honor the findings of law made by a [[Appellate court|higher court]] that is within the appeals path of cases the court hears. By definition decisions of lower c