Definition
Holding (procedural law, common law) (Ro.: decizie, Fr.: décision, n.f., Gr.: συμπέρασμα δικαστικής απόφασης, Cz.: závazné stanovisko) (See also: binding precedent, dictum, jurisprudence, ratio decidendi, stare decisis) = a written legal opinion of a court, or the statement of law applied by a court in response to a certain issue, necessary to reach a final decision. In common law systems, holdings bind the court itself, lower courts, and later courts.
Since precedent is not binding in civil law jurisdictions, judges are not bound by holdings of other judges.
Useful links
Case Law
http://openjurist.org/609/f2d/51/united-states-v-rubin - United States v. Rubin, United States Court of Appeals, 1979
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/88/162.html - Minor v. Happersett, United States Supreme Court, 1874
Online Publications
https://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/pdf/perspec/2011-spring/2011-spring-6.pdf
- Stinson, Judith M., 2011, Teaching the holding/dictum distinction, thomsonreuters.com
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/legal-reas-prec/ - 2006, Precedent and Analogy in Legal Reasoning, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://practicum.brooklaw.edu/sites/default/files/print/pdfs/journals/brooklyn-law-review/volume-76/issue-1/blr_v76i_3.pdf - Stinson, Judith M., Why Dicta Becomes Holding and Why It Matters, Brooklyn Law Review
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1318389 – Blackman, Josh, 2008, Much Ado About Dictum; or, How to Evade Precedent Without Really Trying: The Distinction between Holding and Dictum, Social Science Research Network
http://jonathanturley.org/2011/10/23/holdings-dicta-and-stare-decisis/ - Drumm, David, 2011, Holdings, Dicta, and Stare Decisis, jonathanturley.org
https://www.law.kuleuven.be/jura/art/21n3/vong.pdf - Vong, David, Binding precedent and English judicial law-making, kuleuven.be
Publications
Duxbury, Neil, 2008, The Nature and Authority of Precedent, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Peters, Christopher J., 2014, Precedent in the United States Supreme Court, USA, Springer Science & Business Media