Legal Definitions - citable

Definition: Citable is an adjective used to describe a legal document that has been authorized by a court to be used as a legal precedent. Published opinions are usually citable, but unpublished ones are not. Noncitable means that a document cannot be used as legal precedent.

• The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education is a citable case that has been used as legal precedent in many other cases.
• On the other hand, a trial court's ruling in a case that was never published is noncitable and cannot be used as legal precedent.

These examples illustrate the difference between citable and noncitable legal documents. Citable documents are authoritative and can be used to support legal arguments in future cases. Noncitable documents, on the other hand, have no legal weight and cannot be relied upon as precedent.