The Politics of Building Judicial Precedent

Abstract

Judicial precedents are significant as they may constrain the decisionmaking of other courts, policymakers as well as their future selves. Despite the central role precedent plays in judicial interpretations, the building of precedent remains a lacuna for the study of judicial decisionmaking. The panel invites contributions that examine the mechanisms through which and under what conditions courts build precedent in their jurisprudence. Contributions may explore courts’ strategic selection of sources and their authoritativeness when building precedent, the determinants of courts’ choice to amend or overrule existing precedents, as well as the types of legal questions and issues courts use to build precedent. The panel welcomes both theory-driven and innovative empirical work, focusing on the work of both international and domestic apex courts in Europe and beyond.

Title	Details
Text Reuse in Judicial Decision-Making: Cutting Corners or Leveraging Efficiency Gains?	View Paper Details
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