Legal Definitions - caselaw

Caselaw refers to the body of law that is derived from the collection of reported cases within a particular jurisdiction. It is also known as decisional law, adjudicative law, jurisprudence, or organic law.

According to legal scholar Karl N. Llewellyn, caselaw is an essential component of any judicial system. As judges resolve practical problems in individual cases, they create rules of law that can be applied to future disputes. These generalizations, based on past decisions, form the basis of a legal system.

• In the United States, the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) is a landmark case that established the principle of racial desegregation in public schools.
• In the United Kingdom, the House of Lords decision in Donoghue v. Stevenson (1932) established the principle of negligence in tort law.

These examples illustrate how caselaw can shape the development of legal principles and have far-reaching implications for society. In both cases, the courts' decisions had a significant impact on civil rights and personal injury law, respectively.