NCTJ Court Reporting Practice Exam

"Case laws" are primarily based on the outcomes of former court cases. This legal principle involves the idea that the decisions made by higher courts in previous cases serve as precedents for future cases. When judges encounter legal issues similar to those in prior cases, they look to the past rulings for guidance or to uphold consistency in legal interpretation.

In the legal system, these precedents help maintain stability and predictability, allowing individuals and entities to understand how similar legal disputes might be resolved. This reliance on previous rulings distinguishes case law from statutory law, which is directly derived from legislatively established statutes and regulations, or from legal doctrines crafted by lawmakers.

While established statutes and regulations and legal doctrines are significant aspects of the law, they do not primarily form the basis of case law, as this field is specifically concerned with the interpretations and applications of law as determined by courts through their rulings. Moreover, personal opinions of judges, while they may influence decisions to some extent, are not the foundation of case law, which is rooted in collective judicial decisions and established precedents rather than individual viewpoints.