<Dl> <Dd> Stare decisis is the policy of the court to stand by precedent; the term is but an abbreviation of stare decisis et non quieta movere--"to stand by and adhere to decisions and not disturb what is settled". Consider the word "decisis". The word means, literally and legally, the decision . Under the doctrine of stare decisis a case is important only for what it decides--for the "what", not for the "why", and not for the "how". Insofar as precedent is concerned, stare decisis is important only for the decision, for the detailed legal consequence following a detailed set of facts . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> Stare decisis is the policy of the court to stand by precedent; the term is but an abbreviation of stare decisis et non quieta movere--"to stand by and adhere to decisions and not disturb what is settled". Consider the word "decisis". The word means, literally and legally, the decision . Under the doctrine of stare decisis a case is important only for what it decides--for the "what", not for the "why", and not for the "how". Insofar as precedent is concerned, stare decisis is important only for the decision, for the detailed legal consequence following a detailed set of facts . </Dd> <P> Justice McHugh of the High Court of Australia in relation to precedents remarked in Perre v Apand: </P> <Dl> <Dd> (T) hat is the way of the common law, the judges preferring to go' from case to case, like the ancient Mediterranean mariners, hugging the coast from point to point, and avoiding the dangers of the open sea of system or science . </Dd> </Dl>

Stare decisis is a principle used in overturning earlier court decisions