Many institutional and quasi-institutional practices place weight on what they have carried out previously in figuring out what they need to do now. Individuals, by contrast, will usually disregard what they did on an earlier occasion. If they do make reference to the past, this will normally be due to their belief that what they did up to now was the right factor to do, or a minimum of is a good guide to what’s the proper factor to do now.
If the precept(s) identified in this process apply to the instant case, then that gives a good purpose in favour of the end result supported by the principle. Although the need for law-making is usually cited as a justification for precedent, the substance of the argument usually boils all the way down to concerns with both equality or replicability. If the law has resolved an indeterminacy in one (acceptable) …
