On Super Precedents of the US Supreme Court

The modern Russian legal system functions and develops in conditions of active interaction with other national and international legal systems. This reflects the objective global trends of globalization, part of which are the processes of convergence and integration of legal systems. During these processes, an exchange of experience takes place between countries on legal development issues, which, in turn, often entails shifts in national legal systems, including changes in the role and significance of various sources of national law. In this regard, scientific research on the functioning of the judicial precedent is highly relevant for the Russian Federation, especially concerning countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal family, where the judicial precedent is considered to be the main source of law. At the same time, the use of general scientific methods of scientific knowledge (dialectical method, analysis, synthesis) in combination with specific legal methods (comparative legal method, historical legal method) makes it possible to comprehend legal phenomena that develop in various legal systems and to outline the directions of the corresponding discussion within the framework of Russian law. The topic of super precedents of the US Supreme Court, discussed in the American scientific community, is of particular interest here. One of the key elements of the US legal system is the stare decisis principle, which implies the obligation of courts to follow previously created precedents in resolving similar cases. The vertical aspect of stare decisis means that lower courts are bound by precedents created by higher courts, while horizontal stare decisis implies that courts are bound by their own decisions. The horizontal aspect of stare decisis includes the right of a court to deviate from its own precedent in the presence of appropriate circumstances and grounds. The US Supreme Court exercises this right quite regularly. At the same time, many American legal scholars point to the existence of such decisions of the Supreme Court that cannot be revised under any circumstances due to the fundamental importance of these decisions for American law and society. Such decisions are denoted by the concept “super precedent”. Scholars evaluate individual decisions of the Supreme Court on the subject of their possible superprecedent status. Signs of super precedence are highlighted, and attempts to classify super precedents are also suggested. Despite certain conventionality of the concept of a super precedent, the study of this issue seems to be relevant for Russian legal science. Such a study can be important to further deepen our understanding of the mechanisms of the judiciary.

Keywords

Authors

References