Interpreting Precedents: A Comparative Study (Applied Legal Philosophy)

This book contains a series of essays discussing the uses of precedent as a source of law and a basis for legal arguments in nine different legal systems, representing a variety of legal traditions. Precedent is fundamental to law, yet theoretical and ideological as well as legal considerations lead to its being differently handled and rationalised in different places. Out of the comparative study come the six theoretical and synoptic essays that conclude the volume.

D. Neil MacCormick, Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations, The University of Edinburgh, UK and Robert S. Summers, McRoberts Research Professor of Law, Cornell University, USA and Arthur L. Goodhart Visiting Professor of Legal Science, University of Cambridge, UK, 1991-92