15 A. What is judge-made law?

Law created not by the legislature but by courts through their decisions — the tradition of the common law, where rules built up case by case (case law). Even in codified systems, judges make law in three unavoidable ways:1. Interpreting statutes — giving meaning to general words in concrete cases;2. Filling gaps — where the code is silent, courts reason from principle and precedent;3. Developing doctrine — new situations (internet crime, surrogacy, climate liability) meet courts before legislatures act.