Legal Principles for Correctional Officers – Law, Rights, and Liability Practice Test

The main idea is that case law comes from what courts decide. When judges resolve a dispute, their rulings establish interpretations, rules, and precedents that guide future similar cases. Those court-made decisions form case law and evolve as new rulings are issued.

Statutory law, by contrast, is created by the legislature, not the courts, though courts may interpret statutes. Administrative rules come from agencies implementing statutes and are not the same as the body of court decisions. Constitutional principles provide the framework for many decisions but are not themselves the collection of court rulings.

So the statement that case law is based on decisions of the court system best captures what case law is.