What is the difference between mandatory authority and persuasive authority?

Answer 1

Simple really, Primary authority is the verbatim text of laws, case laws, etc. and mandatory authority is the laws or case laws that a particular court must follow. All mandatory authority must be primary authority, but the reverse is not always true. For example. a murder case in district court in New York state MUST follow any and all rulings or laws of New York state and any higher courts. However, a murder case in Minnesota is not required to follow New York's laws and case laws even though they are primary authority. Also a higher court is never required to follow a lower courts decision even if it is a primary authority.

To break it down to brass tacks, primary authority is really just the legal term for a primary source, same as regular research. A mandatory authority is about jurisdiction and stare deices.

Answer 2

You have asked a question that could require a lengthy answer. Following is a brief summary that will enable you to perform further research on this topic.

Mandatory authority (primary authority) is comprised of precedents in the form of prior decisions by a court, statutory law, regulations or other sources of law that must be considered by a judge when making a determination in a legal matter. It comes from a government entity.

Secondary sources explain and analyze legal issues and topics presented in primary authorities. They help an attorney in the research process learn about the legal issue once it has been identified. Secondary sources are persuasive authority only and are not binding.

If there is no mandatory authority on a particular set of facts in a legal issue the court may consider secondary sources to render its decision. For example, the court may decide to follow the ruling in a similar case from another jurisdiction (state). The ruling in that other court will be adopted and become mandatory authority.

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Answer 3

Mandatory authority is binding and must be followed by lower courts, such as decisions from higher courts within the same jurisdiction. Persuasive authority, on the other hand, is not binding but may influence a court's decision, such as decisions from courts in other jurisdictions or secondary sources like legal commentary.