Precedent

precedent [ n. PRES-i-duh'nt; adj. pri-SEED-nt ]
[ noun, adjective ]

MEANING :
1. (n.) a legal decision serving as an authoritative pattern for similar cases in the future
2. (n.) a standard example
3. (adj.) anterior or frontal

EXAMPLE 1 :
The lawyer won the case by quoting a precedent from the supreme court.

EXAMPLE 2 :
In its bid for a do-over, the FAI pointed to precedent set in 2005 when a World Cup qualifier between Uzbekistan and Bahrain was replayed after the referee was found to have committed a technical error.