Perspectives on precedent in civil law systems: an introductory study

Abstract

This introductory study offers an overview of the institution of judicial precedent in Civil Law systems, to distinguish the problems that emerge in countries that have a formal or institutionalized practice of precedent, from those in which there is none. We have found that the introduction of the precedent responds, on the one hand, to the growing demands for justice in the different fields of legal practice, and, on the other hand, to the need to control judicial discretion. Therefore, the underlying thesis of this work is that, in the regular operation of Civil Law systems, both constitutional courts and the judiciary in general have the practical need to construe human rights —in terms of legal provisions that will be jurisdictionally specified.