Precedents are legal decisions made in previous court cases that serve as examples or rules for future cases. They help ensure consistency and predictability in the law by guiding judges in their rulings. When a court faces a case with similar facts, it often looks to past decisions to determine how to proceed. In many legal systems, particularly in common law countries like the United States and United Kingdom, precedents are an essential part of the judicial process. They can be binding, meaning lower courts must follow them, or persuasive, meaning they can influence but are not required to be followed.