What is the difference between case law and statutory law

Until the House of Lords was bound by its own decisions. In , the Lord Chancellor issued a Practice statement which stated that the House of Lords may depart from its own previous decision where it is right to do so.

The reasons given were to avoid injustice and restrictions on the proper development of the law. Ltd is established. In criminal cases the Court of Appeal may depart from a previous decision if to follow it would lead to an obvious injustice. Again based upon your knowledge and understanding of this course, summarise the advantages and disadvantages of a system of precedent. You should take some time to revise the notes you made from the previous activities, and perhaps reread part of the course.

The certainty of precedent is tempered by the flexibility judges have to not follow previous cases. Precedent is more practical — the law can modernise without the need for Parliament to enact new laws. Making the decision to study can be a big step, which is why you'll want a trusted University.

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Skip to main content. Search for free courses, interactives, videos and more! Free learning from The Open University. Featured content. Free courses. All content. Case law is law that is based on judicial decisions rather than law based on constitutions , statutes , or regulations.

Case law concerns unique disputes resolved by courts using the concrete facts of a case. By contrast, statutes and regulations are written abstractly. Case law, also used interchangeably with common law , refers to the collection of precedents and authority set by previous judicial decisions on a particular issue or topic. In that sense, case law differs from one jurisdiction to another. Statutory laws are already written and need just to be applied to a specific case.

Common law is being developed on an everyday basis without causing any fractionalization of society or creating any expense to the state. Statutory laws are developed by government of a state or nation and these are organized and codified into law codes.

They cover all areas regulated by statutory laws exclusively as well as those areas where common law is not applicable. Share this comparison:. If you read this far, you should follow us:. Diffen LLC, n. Common Law vs. Statutory Law. New laws are issued by various government agencies.

Definitions Common law is defined as law that has been developed on the basis of preceding rulings by judges. Basis for common law and statutory law Common law is by far and wide based on judgments made in the past over hundreds of years.