Consistency of judicial practice as the basis for understanding the doctrine of legal precedent

Abstract

The article deals with the analyse of the doctrine of legal precedent, with an emphasis on the historical aspects of the acquisition of precedent features of the source of law, which will establish its legal significance and importance for legal systems where it is not yet officially recognized as a source of law.

In addition, the study of the legal force of legal precedent as a regulator of legal relations, clarifying its role and place among other sources of law at the present stage of development of legal systems of European countries, by analyzing legislation and studying the views of scholars from different countries.

A review of scientific researches on this topic indicates that in different periods the problem of the legal force of the legal precedent has always been in the focus of attention of domestic and foreign scientists. The legal precedent is a complex concept that contains the result of a decision of a case by a law enforcement body, which contains a legal principle (stare decisis) that is mandatory for use in solving similar cases in the future, that is, in fact, it is a kind of model for regulating subsequent similar legal relations.

The legal precedent is a general concept, since in legal activity it is possible to distinguish judicial, administrative and other precedents, because the need for precedent regulation is based on the dynamism of social life and the needs of the adaptability of the law.