This book contains a series of essays discussing the uses of precedent as a source of law and a basis for legal arguments in nine different legal systems, representing a variety of legal traditions.

Contents: Introduction, D. Neil MacCormick and Robert S. Summers; Precedent in the Federal Republic of Germany, Robert Alexy and Ralph Dreier; Precedent in Finland, Aulis Aarnio; Precedent in France, Michel Troper and Christophe Grzegorczyk; Precedent in Italy, Massimo La Torre and Michele Taruffo; Precedent in Norway, Svein Eng; Precedent in Poland, Lech Morawski and Marek Zirk-Sadowski; Precedent in Spain, Francisco J. Laporta and Alfonso Ruiz Miguel; Precedent Interpretation in Sweden, Gunnar Bergholtz and Aleksander Peczenick; Precedent in the United Kingdom, Zenon Bankowski, D. Neil MacCormick and Geoffrey Marshall; Precedent in the United States (New York State), Robert S. Summers; Precedent in European Community Law, John J. Barceló; Institutional Factors Influencing Precedents, Michele Taruffo; The Binding Force of Precedent, Aleksander Peczenick; Rationales for Precedent, Zenon Bankowski, D. Neil MacCormick, Lech Morawski and Alfonso Ruiz Miguel; What is Binding in a Precedent, Geoffrey Marshall; Departures from Precedent, Svein Eng and Robert S. Summers; Further General Reflections and Conclusions; D. Neil MacCormick and Robert S. Summers.