Introduction
摘要
In 1934, in an essay that became a classic on the distinction between precedent in Common Law and caselaw in Civil Law, Arthur Goodhart noted that the main difference between the two traditions is precedents were binding for the former while caselaw was persuasive for the latter. In 1961, in a book that was for a long time the main reference on precedents in Common Law, Rupert Cross stated that the search for the ratio decidendi was one of the peculiarities of Anglo-American Law, having no parallel in the Roman-Canonical rooted legal system.