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case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of ...
, a test case is a legal action whose purpose is to set a
precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great v ...
. Test cases are brought to court as a means to provide a clearer definition to laws with disputed meaning and/or intent. An example of a test case might be a legal entity who files a
lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...
to see if the court considers a certain law or a certain legal
precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great v ...
applicable in specific circumstances. This is useful, for example, to validate later filing similar lawsuits. Government agencies sometimes bring test cases to confirm or expand their powers.In FTC v. Dean Foods Co., the FTC sought to establish its power to obtain preliminary injunctions in anti-merger cases. In FTC v. Sperry & Hutchinson Co., the FTC sought to establish its power to invoke section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. sec. 45, against business practices that were "unfair" without being similar to antitrust violations. In United States v. Glaxo Group Ltd., the Justice Department sought to establish its power to invalidate patents even though they were not procured by fraud. Unsuccessful such test cases sometimes provide a basis for convincing Congress of the need for corrective legislation.


Examples

Examples of influential test cases include: # '' Plessy v. Ferguson'' (1896) # '' Tennessee v. Scopes'' (1925) # ''
United States v. One Book Called Ulysses ''United States v. One Book Called Ulysses'', 5 F. Supp. 182 (S.D.N.Y. 1933), is a decision by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in a case dealing with freedom of expression. At issue was whether James Joyce's ...
'' (1933) # '' Brown v. Board of Education'' (1954) # '' Griswold v. Connecticut'' (1965) # '' Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State v. Oneida County'' (1974) # '' Adams v Cape Industries plc'' (1990) # ''
Mabo v Queensland (No 2) ''Mabo v Queensland (No 2)'' (commonly known as ''Mabo'') is a decision of the High Court of Australia, decided on 3 June 1992.. It is a landmark case, brought by Eddie Mabo against the State of Queensland. The case is notable for first recog ...
'' (1992) # ''
National Westminster Bank plc v Spectrum Plus Limited National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
'' (2005) # '' District of Columbia v. Heller'' (2008)


See also

*
Case of first impression A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great value ...
* Leading case * ''
Uncommon Law ''Uncommon Law'' is a book by A. P. Herbert first published by Methuen in 1935. Its title is a satirical reference to the English common law. The book is an anthology of fictitious law reports first published in ''Punch'' as ''Misleading Cases' ...
'', or ''Misleading Cases in the Common Law'', by A. P. Herbert; still further misleading case


References

Legal terminology {{case-law-stub