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P a g e
These interpretations are distinguished from "statutory law" which is the statutes and
codes (laws) enacted by legislative bodies, "regulatory law" which is regulations
required by agencies based on statutes, and in some states, the Common Law, which is
the generally accepted law carried down from England. The rulings in trials and
hearings which are not appealed and not reported are not case law and, therefore, not
precedent or new interpretations. Law students principally study case law to
understand the application of law to facts and learn the courts' subsequent
interpretations of statutes.
Precedent
A court decision that is cited as an example or analogy to resolve similar
QUESTIONS OF LAW
in later cases.
The Anglo-American common-law tradition is built on the doctrine o
("
stand by decided matters"), which directs a court to look to past decisions for guid-
ance on how to decide a case before it. This means that the legal rules applied to a prior
case with facts similar to those of the case now before a court should be applied to re-
solve the legal dispute.
The use of precedent has been justified as providing predictability, stability, fairness,
and efficiency in the law. Reliance upon precedent also promotes the expectation that
the law is just. The idea that like cases should be treated alike is anchored in the as-
sumption that one person is the legal equal of any other. Thus, persons in similar situa-
tions should not be treated differently except for legally relevant and clearly justifiable
reasons. Precedent promotes judicial restraint and limits a judge's ability to determine
the outcome of a case in a way that he or she might choose if there were no precedent.
This function of precedent gives it its moral force.
Precedent also enhances efficiency. Reliance on the accumulation of legal rules helps
guide judges in their resolution of legal disputes. If judges had to begin the law anew in
each case, they would add more time to the adjudicative process and would duplicate
their efforts.
The use of precedent has resulted in the publication of law reports that contain case de-
cisions. Lawyers and judges conduct legal research in these reports seeking precedents.
They try to determine whether the facts of the present case precisely match previous
cases. If so, the application of legal precedent may be clear. If, however, the facts are not
exact, prior cases may be distinguished and their precedents discounted.
Relevant decided cases: - R v Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Ltd and Another [1982] –
interpretation of Sec 2(2) (c) of the Act regarding information and instruction to
contractors required to undertake their work safely
HSW ACT s2.2.C – Provision of information
An oxygen valve in a badly ventilated part of HMS Glasgow, then under construction,
had been left open. The result was that the room had then become oxygen enriched.
Swan Hunter were the main contractors but several others were involved. An employee
of Telemeter Installations, working alongside Swan Hunter employees was preparing to
do some arc welding. He struck the electric arc between welding rod and work piece
and immediately, due to the atmosphere, a very intense fire broke out and eight men
