Balancing test

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In law, a balancing test is any judicial test in which the jurists weigh the importance of multiple factors in a legal case. Proponents of such legal tests argue that they allow a deeper consideration of complex issues than a bright-line rule can allow. But critics say that such tests can be used to justify any conclusion, upon which the judge might arbitrarily decide.

In the United States, many legal issues, which had previously been considered settled by the imposition of bright-line tests through Supreme Court precedents, have been replaced by balancing tests in recent years.