<P> The application of the doctrine of stare decisis from a superior court to an inferior court is sometimes called vertical stare decisis . </P> <P> The idea that a judge is bound by (or at least should respect) decisions of earlier judges of similar or coordinate level is called horizontal stare decisis . </P> <P> In the United States federal court system, the intermediate appellate courts are divided into thirteen "circuits," each covering some range of territory ranging in size from the District of Columbia alone up to seven states . Each panel of judges on the court of appeals for a circuit is bound to obey the prior appellate decisions of the same circuit . Precedent of a United States court of appeals may be overruled only by the court en banc, that is, a session of all the active appellate judges of the circuit, or by the United States Supreme Court, not simply by a different three - judge panel . </P> <P> When a court binds itself, this application of the doctrine of precedent is sometimes called horizontal stare decisis . The state of New York has a similar appellate structure as it is divided into four appellate departments supervised by the final New York Court of Appeals . Decisions of one appellate department are not binding upon another, and in some cases the departments differ considerably on interpretations of law . </P>

When is the court of appeal not bound by its own previous decisions