Judicial Precedent as a Source of Law

This book offers a historically grounded study of judicial precedent as a source of law across major stages of Western legal development. Beginning with Roman law, it follows the changing role of judicial decisions through Visigothic law, the ius commune, Hispano-Portuguese legal tradition, and the formation of common law, before turning to modern debates on legal sources, legal reasoning, and the authority of courts. Rather than treating precedent as a phenomenon confined to a single legal tradition, the book examines how it assumes different forms and degrees of force in distinct legal orders, including both binding and persuasive authority. The study also situates these developments within broader transformations in legal thought, engaging with questions raised by codification, legal positivism, and the historical school. Its final chapters connect this long historical trajectory to the Brazilian legal experience and to contemporary discussions on the theoretical status of precedent in civil-law systems. Combining legal history with sustained conceptual analysis, the book develops an integrated account of precedent as a recurring and structurally significant feature of adjudication.