- published: 13 Aug 2014
- views: 12069
Case law is the set of existing rulings which made new interpretations of law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents. In some countries, such as the USA, the term is exclusively used for judicial decisions of selected appellate courts, courts of first instance, and other bodies discharging judicial functions. In other countries, such as most European countries, the term is applied to any set of rulings on law which is guided by previous rulings, for example, patent office case law. These interpretations are distinguished from statutory law which are the statutes and codes enacted by legislative bodies; regulatory law which are regulations established by governmental agencies based on statutes; and in some states, common law which are the generally accepted laws carried to the colonies and former colonies of England (USA, Australia, etc.). Trials and hearings which are not selected as 'courts of first impression' do not have rulings that become case law; therefore, these rulings cannot be precedents for future court decisions.