• Civil-law courts are not bound by the common-law doctrine of stare decisis. But they do recognize the doctrine of jurisprudence constante, which is similar to stare decisis, one exception being that jurisprudence constante does not command strict adherence to a legal principle applied on one occasion in the past. Cf. STARE DECISIS. [Cases: Courts 89. C.J.S. Courts §§ 139–140, 144–146, 161–164, 166–167.]
jurisprudence constante
(k[schwa]n-stan-tee).Civil law The doctrine that a court should give great weight to a rule of law that is accepted and applied in a long line of cases, and should not overrule or modify its own decisions unless clear error is shown and injustice will arise from continuation of a particular rule of law.
