Abstract
One of the hallmarks of common-law cultures, precedent owes much of its centrality to the promise of stability, continuity, and reliability that it offers. Thinking of precedent as doctrine, practice, and mode of reasoning, the entry foregrounds a historical and geographically specific approach to generate a cultural history of precedent and its fictional and nonfictional forms. I show that precedent mediates complex and often contradictory legal, historical, and social forces, and thus affords vital cultural knowledge to those who study its various manifestations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Law and Literature |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. |
| Pages | 364-366 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781803925912 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781803925905 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Editors and Contributing Authors Severally 2025. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Case law
- Judicial opinions
- Law reports
- Narrative
- Precedent
- Stare decisis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences
- General Arts and Humanities