Common law is
law developed by
judges through
decisions of
courts and similar tribunals rather than through
legislative statutes or
executive branch action.
A "common law system" is a
legal system that gives great precedential weight to common law,
on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different occasions.
The body of
precedent is called "common law" and it binds future decisions. In cases where the parties disagree on what the law is, a common law court looks to past
precedential decisions of relevant courts. If a similar dispute has been resolved in the past, the court is
bound to follow the reasoning used in the prior decision. If, however, the court finds that the current dispute is fundamentally distinct from all previous cases, judges have the authority and duty to make law by creating
precedent.
Thereafter, the new decision becomes precedent, and will bind future courts.