In this article, the idea of precedent is examined through the lens of the basic theories of judicial constitutional interpretation, which provide fundamentally different answers to the question of the nature of interpretation and of the possibility of judicial discretion. The author comes to the conclusion that a precedent can be viewed as a source of law only within the framework of a «mixed» theory, overcoming the extremes of radical versions of formalism and realism. Though being quite influential in Russian jurisprudence, the formalistic tradition, which rejects judicial lawmaking, in its current state of development is unconvincing. In reality, the Constitutional Court of Russia adheres to the «mixed» theory, which opens up the prospect of further exploring preconditions of precedential law-making and its various models.