Words / S / Law

stare decisis

noun/ˌstɑːreɪ dɪˈsaɪsɪs/

C2CEFR level
90/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

The principle that courts should stand by settled precedent when deciding like cases.

Absent a compelling reason, stare decisis counsels us to follow the 1998 authority.

Similar: precedent

Topic: Advocacy in Legal English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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