Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Judicial Precedent
- Stare Decisis
- Stand by what
has been decided
- Ratio Decidendi
- Reason for
the decision
- Binding
- R v Nedrick confirmed in R v
Woollin, if a jury feels the defendant
foresaw death or serious injury then
oblique intention may be inferred
- Obiter Dicta
- Things said
by the way
- Persuasive
- R v Howe, duress is not
a defence for murder
(ratio) or attempted
murder (obiter)
- Hierarchy of the Courts
- Law Reports
- Contains
judge's
decision
- Only a small
portion reach
the law reports
- Avoiding Precedent
- Reversing
- Overruling
- Distinguishing
- Difference
between
the cases
- Balfour v Balfour
(1919), living together,
verbal agreement on
money
- Enter text here
- Advantages
- Certainty
- like cases are
treated alike
- Possible to
predict decision
and plan
- Solicitors
can
advise
- Consistency
and fairness
- Gives legal
system a sense
of justice
- Flexible
- Number of
ways to avoid
precedent
- Can adapt
to new
situations
- House of Lords
can overrule
- Responses
to real life
situations
- Disadvantages
- Too rigid
- Lead to injustice
- Law is hard to change
because precedent
must be followed
- Most cases don't go
to the House of
Lords or Court of
Appeal where they
can be overruled
- House of
Lords
reluctant
to overrule
- Slowness of
growth in the law
- May take many years
for a case to challenge
the precendent
- Judges may want to change
the law but they can't do so
without a case
- Permission is
needed to go
to the Lords
- If refused can't
challenge
precedent
- Too much case
law and it is very
complex
- Half a million
reported cases
- Hard to
find the law
- Judgements are long
and difficult to find ratio
- Dodd's Case (1973) Court of
Appeal said it was unable to
find the ratio of a similar case
from the Lords
- Retrospective
(Looking
backwards)
- People can be
found guilty of a
crime that wasn't a
crime at the time
- R v R tried to force his wife to
have sex, couldn't be found of
rape but later could be found of
attempted rape
- Undemocratic
- Judges
make law