Test case (law)

{{Short description|Case brought to set a legal precedent}}

{{Globalize|article|USA|Anglosphere|date=March 2025}}

{{one source |date=May 2024}}

In case law, a test case is a lawsuit whose purpose is to establish an important legal principle or right and to set a precedent.{{Cite book |title=Black's law dictionary |date=2001 |publisher=West Group |isbn=978-0-314-22864-2 |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Bryan A. |edition=7. ed., 4. repr |location=St. Paul, Minn}} Test cases are brought to court with the intention of challenging, interpreting, or receiving clarification on a present law, regulation, or constitutional principle.{{Cite web |title=test case |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/test_case#:~:text=Test%20cases%20refer%20to%20legal,dispute%20to%20hear%20a%20case. |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}} Government agencies sometimes bring test cases to confirm or expand their powers.In FTC v. Dean Foods Co., the FTC sought to establish its power to obtain preliminary injunctions in anti-merger cases. In FTC v. Sperry & Hutchinson Co., the FTC sought to establish its power to invoke section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. sec. 45, against business practices that were "unfair" without being similar to antitrust violations. In United States v. Glaxo Group Ltd., the Justice Department sought to establish its power to invalidate patents even though they were not procured by fraud. Unsuccessful such test cases sometimes provide a basis for convincing Congress of the need for corrective legislation. The outcome of test cases has a wide public significance as it shapes future rulings.{{Cite web |title=About legal test cases {{!}} CPAG |url=https://cpag.org.uk/welfare-rights/test-cases/about-legal-test-cases#:~:text=A%20test%20case%20is%20a,confirm%20a%20prevailing%20judicial%20interpretation. |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=cpag.org.uk |language=en}}