stare decisis

[ stair-ee di-sahy-sis ]

nounLaw.
  1. the doctrine that rules or principles of law on which a court rested a previous decision are authoritative in all future cases in which the facts are substantially the same.

Origin of stare decisis

1
First recorded in 1855–60, stare decisis is from Latin stāre dēcīsīs “to stand by things (that have been) settled”

Words Nearby stare decisis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use stare decisis in a sentence

  • Moreover the common law insists upon its doctrine of stare decisis chiefly in the two cases of property and commercial law.

  • stare decisis was a maxim that did not trouble the average lawyer, for there were few decisions to stand upon.

    Stephen A. Douglas | Allen Johnson

Cultural definitions for stare decisis

stare decisis

[ (stair-ee duh-seye-sis) ]


A Latin phrase that literally means “to stand on the decisions.” It expresses the common law doctrine that court decisions should be guided by precedent.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.