Forensic Psychology Exam 1 Practice

Statutory law comes from legislation enacted by lawmakers, providing explicit rules. Case law comes from court decisions that interpret those statutes and decide disputes; when a statute doesn’t speak to a situation, judges rely on case law to apply the law and establish precedent. These two are the authoritative ways law is created and applied, and they work together: statutes set the rules, while case law explains, interprets, and fills gaps in those rules. The statement that statutory law is based on legislation and case law is based on a court’s interpretation where no statute exists captures this relationship, and the other options mix up their sources or imply the wrong hierarchy.