What is Case Law?

• A. Judicial interpretations of common law principles and doctrines, as well as interpretations of constitutional law, statute law, and ordinance law.
• B. Statutes enacted by legislatures
• C. Executive orders
• D. Administrative regulations

Answer: (A)

Case law is the body of law created by judges through their decisions. It consists of how courts interpret and apply laws in specific cases, and over time these interpretations develop doctrine and guide future rulings. This includes how courts interpret common law principles, as well as how they interpret constitutional provisions, statutes, and ordinances. The decisions create binding precedent that helps determine how similar issues should be decided later.

Other sources of law exist too, such as statutes enacted by legislatures (the actual written laws), executive orders (directives from the executive branch), and administrative regulations (rules issued by agencies). These are not case law themselves, though courts may interpret and apply them, which then becomes part of case law.