what exactly does the word 'precedent' mean in terms of law?

Answer 1

All related adjudications on the subject matter.

Answer 2

Michael is wrong. Quite often the courts will interpret what they'll refer to as legislative intent and/or principles of fairness/natural justice to achieve a result that appears to be contrary to the provisions in the actual statute in dispute. And they are widely criticized for what is popularly termed 'judge-made law.' Many of us dislike the notion of the judiciary 'cherry-picking' rules to support a controversial conclusion esp where judges are apptd rather than elected.

Answer 3

In common law systems, including most England and US states, courts have the job of interpreting and clarifying statutory law, as well as historical but uncodified laws (which covers most defenses and most civil tort actions).

In a common law system, these previous court holdings are binding on lower courts. That's precedent -- the previous court holdings that have clarified or defined the law in a particular area, including how to interpret statutory provisions under certain facts.

Most of the law that actually gets applied during almost any trial is court-made law, not statutory law. So, precedent actually covers most of the legal arguments that get made in common law systems.

This is different than in civil law systems, such as France and the state of Louisiana. In civil law systems, previous court holdings are not as binding, so don't have the same precedent value.

Answer 4

precedent in legal terms . Law. a legal decision or form of proceeding serving as an authoritative rule or pattern in future similar or analogous cases.

Answer 5

Previous court rulings dealing with the same matter in the current case.

Answer 6

it is the fore runner of similar situation,

in this case it is the court case

Answer 7

something to compare it to.