law

1. In the field of law, common law is the body of precedent established by judges and other quasi-judicial
tribunals and is also referred to as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law.
Common law is distinguished by the fact that it develops through precedent. Common law courts use
previous court rulings to summarize the legal tenets of earlier cases. All common law systems are
founded on the idea of stare decisis, which states that cases should be decided in accordance with
consistent, principled rules so that similar facts will produce similar outcomes. A court is typically
required to follow the logic used in the previous decision if it determines that a dispute similar to the
current one has been resolved in the past.