What is a precedent in legal terms?

• A. Judge-made law that creates a common set of legal principles
• B. A newly enacted statute
• C. A magistrate's instruction
• D. A jury instruction

Answer: (A)

Precedent is rule of law established by a court decision that guides future cases. It comes from the principle of stare decisis, which aims for consistency and predictability in the law. When a court decides a case and explains a legal rule, that rule becomes binding for similar cases that come before courts in the same jurisdiction, forming part of the common law. Precedents can be applied, distinguished when facts differ, or overruled by higher courts or updated by statute, but they remain judge-made rules that shape how later cases are decided. This differs from a statute, which is a law enacted by Parliament, and from a magistrate’s or a jury’s instructions, which tell the current court or jury how to apply the law to the facts at hand rather than establishing general rules for future cases.