judicial precedent

Question 1

what is judicial precedent

Answer 1

this principle means that a court must follow and apply the law as set out in the decisions of higher courts in previous cases.

Question 2

what is the court heirachy

Answer 2

supreme court
court of appeal
high court
crown court
magistrates courts

Question 3

what precedent do all the courts have to follow

Answer 3

binding precedent

Question 4

what does binding precedent mean

Answer 4

each court is bound by the decisions made by a higher court

Question 5

what does the term ratio decidendi mean

Answer 5

“the reason for the decision” this is the binding element and must be followed.

Question 6

what does the term stare decisis mean

Answer 6

“to stand by previous decisions” binding precedent. refers to the follow aspect of judicial precedent means to stick with that decision and apply it to other similar cases. e.g. Donahue v Stevenson and Daniels v white.

Question 7

what does the term obiter dicta mean

Answer 7

“things said by the way” persuasive precedent. this points to other things that may have been mentioned during the verdict

Question 8

what is persuasive precedent

Answer 8

previous decisions made by lower courts that don’t have to be followed by higher courts. they can use it as influence but they do not have to follow it

Question 9

what is awkward precedent

Answer 9

precedent that cannot be followed therefore the judge has to overrule, distinguish, reverse or depart.

Question 10

what is original precedent

Answer 10

a decision in a case where there has been nothing like it before therefore it is completely new and original.

Question 11

what are all the possible methods of judicial precedent

Answer 11

follow
overrule
reverse
distinguish
depart

Question 12

what does “follow” mean

Answer 12

if the facts of one case fit the ones of a previous case then that previous decision can be followed and used.

Question 13

what is a case example for follow

Answer 13

Donoghue v Stevenson and Daniels v white

Question 14

what does overrule mean

Answer 14

a higher court can overrule the decision made in a lower court

Question 15

what are case example of overrule

Answer 15

rondel v Worsley (1969) and hall v Simons (2000)

Question 16

what does reverse mean

Answer 16

on appeal a higher court can change the decision of a lower court

Question 17

what is a case example for reverse

Answer 17

re Pinochet 1998

Question 18

what does distinguish mean

Answer 18

when a lower court points top material differences between cases to justify the application of different principles

Question 19

what is a case example of distingish

Answer 19

Balfour v Balfour

Question 20

what does depart mean

Answer 20

in certain circumstances a court can depart from its previous decision

Question 21

what is a case example of depart

Answer 21

Addie v Dumbreck 1929 and British railway board v Herrington 1972

Question 22

what are the advantages to judicial precedent

Answer 22

1- just system- similar cases will be treated the same
2- flexibility- case law can change quickly to adapt to society
3- practice rules- due to case law coming out of real life scenarios, there is a lot of material and detailed rules

Question 23

what are the disadvantages to judicial precedent

Answer 23

1- undemocratic - judges are not elected in so why should they be allowed to change or adapt law
2- rigid- lower courts have to follow decisions from h9gher courts
3- complex- case law gives us thousands of cases and pieces of law identifying relevant principles can be time consuming.