"Yes, but no", as analogies are. It varies according to the case. Whether courts create law or whether they merely discover law is a matter of serious scholarl

"Yes, but no", as analogies are. It varies according to the case. Whether courts create law or whether they merely discover law is a matter of serious scholarly debate. Patching or reconfiguring is closer to creation and legislatures jealously guard that privilege. Courts must apply the implications of existing laws applied to novel circumstances. Code can crash, but a court must always provide an answer, even if that answer is "you have wasted the court's time".