Legal Question in Business Law in New Jersey

Re: case law to determine statute?

When any Court of competent jurisdiction, equal, appellate and/or highest Court of a State or US Supreme Court has ruled on the statute and discussed the issue.

Re: case law to determine statute?

Disclaimer: This answer is for informational purposes only and by reading it you understand that no attorney-client relationship is formed.

ANSWER: A judge may rely upon case law to determine the intent and purpose of a statute for many reasons. Many people do not know that there are two types of law: statutes, which are passed by the legislature and the common law, which develops case by case through time. The common law applies the statutes and prior cases to the situation at hand. Therefore, if a judge in a case that involves a statute that must be interpreted wants guidance as to how his decision should go, he would look at the prior cases involving the interpretation of that statute to the same, similar or even different facts. In those cases, the intent and purpose of the statute may have been discussed and the statute "fleshed out", so to speak. I hope this helps you. The attorneys will present those cases to him as well and put their best argument to the judge as to how his decision should go based upon prior case law.