The legal doctrine requiring courts to follow precedents established by previous judicial decisions in similar cases. This principle promotes consistency and predictability in the law by binding lower courts to higher court rulings.
From Latin 'stare decisis et non quieta movere,' meaning 'to stand by decisions and not disturb settled matters.' This principle evolved in English common law to create stability in legal interpretation and judicial decision-making.
Stare decisis is like legal DNA - each court decision carries forward the genetic code of previous rulings, creating an evolutionary chain of law where today's judges are bound by the wisdom (or mistakes) of judges from decades or even centuries ago!
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