Past cases are the European Court of Justice's most prominent tool in making and justifying the rulings and decisions which affect the everyday lives of more than half a billion people. Marc Jacob's detailed analysis of the use of precedents and case-based reasoning in the Court uses methods such as doctrinal scholarship, empirical research, institutional analysis, comparative law and legal theory in order to unravel and critique the how and why of the Court's precedent technique. In doing so, he moves the wider debate beyond received 'common law' versus 'civil law' figments and 'Eurosceptic' versus 'Euromantic' battle lines, and also provides a useful blueprint for assessing and comparing the case law practices of other dispute resolution bodies.

'… provides a valuable and highly approachable exposition of the normativity of precedent (stare decisis) from both civil and common law perspectives to non-domestic international and EU law ones.'

Suvi Sankari Source: Common Market Law Review

'[This book] presents a differentiated and multifaceted picture of the way in which the European Court approaches the question of precedent. Referring to, distinguishing, and overruling precedent are depicted as diverse and multifunctional techniques of legal reasoning. … Marc Jacob has written a highly insightful study, which will be of interest for anyone interested in precedent within the context of the European Union and beyond.'

Mehrdad Payandeh Source: International Journal of Constitutional Law

'… provide[s] important insights into the use of precedents in the case law of international arbitral tribunals and the European Court of Justice.'

Niels Petersen Source: European Journal of International Law