In general scientific and universal sense of a precedent - it is something that precedes parses event that served as the basis for its estimates.This term is used in many areas of knowledge and everyday life, but most often comes to mind when it used a legal precedent.
The term precedent (meaning in Latin - "prior") in the legal sense, appeared in ancient Rome.However, only in the XVIII - XIX centuries., The Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, it became widely used in legal practice.
Modern Law Dictionary gives the following explanation: a precedent - it is the earlier decision of the court on a particular case, which becomes the basis for the resolution of other similar cases.
From this definition it can be concluded that the precedent - is, first of all, the law-making act, the main subject of which is a judge.At the same time, the scope of judicial law-making is much narrower than that of the parliamentary law-making.For example, a precedent for the judge is not the main, and a by-product of its activities, which is produced exclusively in the framework of the legal framework that already exists in a particular country.
necessary legal precedent because the legal provisions are sufficiently general, so inevitably there are so-called "gaps in the law."That should make up their acts and judicial law-making, which will eventually take their place in the legal system of the country.
In the analysis of the main sources of law should clearly distinguish between the concepts of "legal precedent" and "jurisprudence".The precedent - is, first of all, a specific solution, while the legal practice is a whole series of similar court decisions that have been taken within the framework of a long judicial proceedings.
At the same time it should be emphasized that not all countries legal precedent is the source of law in the full sense of the word.Quite naturally, it plays a significant role in the countries of Anglo-Saxon legal institution (the United Kingdom, South Africa, USA, Canada, India), the legal system which is largely created on the basis of case law.In addition, there are states in which the value of precedent increases with time in France, Liechtenstein, Germany, Spain, Latin America.In Russia, the source of law not officially recognized, although some progress in recent years, are found here.
classic example of the state with a developed case law is the United Kingdom.However, even here the range of vessels, which can make decisions in a subsequent compulsory for all, seriously restricted.These are only the Supreme Court, High Court and the House of Lords.In addition, courts in the future are not used solutions as a whole, but only of a special element - the so-called "essence of the solution", which is a provision of the law applicable to the issues that have arisen again in connection with the facts established by the court.
