In the LaGrand case, the International Court of Justice seems to have created a clear precedent in favour of the binding force of provisional measures. This essay surveys the main lines of argument for and against the binding nature of provisional measures in the relevant literature, and discusses how the LaGrand case was argued in this context. The elation to be found in recent literature with regard to the ‘settlement’ of the issue of the binding force will be questioned by a discussion of the apparent adoption in international law of a system of precedents and stare decisis.