case law

noun

: law established by judicial decision in cases

Examples of case law in a Sentence

Case law says that a person has a right to privacy.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In the letter, Sproul cited First Amendment case law as protection of editorial judgments. Ted Johnson, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2024 The country has a rich case law history related to its trusts, which provides settlors—those establishing the trusts—with peace of mind. Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2024 For a business, the key takeaways are: Keep up with the arrival of new laws and also with the first case law in each area. Nisha Talagala, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024 Most of the time, judges will recognize that the case law that has evolved in response to libel and defamation in the United States, which all comes under the First Amendment, that that case law protects journalists. Dana Taylor, USA TODAY, 23 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for case law 

Word History

First Known Use

1731, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of case law was in 1731

Dictionary Entries Near case law

Cite this Entry

“Case law.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/case%20law. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Legal Definition

case law

noun
: law established by judicial decisions in cases as distinguished from law created by legislation

called also decisional law

see also common law

More from Merriam-Webster on case law

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!