In case law, a test case is a legal action whose purpose is to set a precedent. Test cases are brought to court as a means to provide a clearer definition to laws with disputed meaning and/or intent. An example of a test case might be a legal entity who files a lawsuit to see if the court considers a certain law or a certain legal precedent applicable in specific circumstances. This is useful, for example, to validate later filing similar lawsuits.
Government agencies sometimes bring test cases to confirm or expand their powers.[1]
Examples
Examples of influential test cases include:
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
- Tennessee v. Scopes (1925)
- United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (1933)
- Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
- Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
- Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State v. Oneida County (1974)
- Adams v Cape Industries plc (1990)
- Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992)
- National Westminster Bank plc v Spectrum Plus Limited (2005)
- District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
See also
- Case of first impression
- Leading case
- Uncommon Law, or Misleading Cases in the Common Law, by A. P. Herbert; still further misleading case