THE DOCTRINE OF BINDING PRECEDENT

How the Doctrine of Binding Precedent Operates In the English

How The Doctrine of Binding Precedent Operates in the English Courts disadvantages

The English Legal System which can be traced back as far as 1066 AD has been growing slowly over time. Certain characteristics of this law system? such as the law of precedent can be distinguished from other law systems. Judicial precedent or binding precedent often referred to as case law? is one of the main sources of English Law. As time passed a kind of court structure has matured while a hierarchy is formed between those courts. And through the doctrine of binding precedent the decisions made by the higher courts in the hierarchy are been bound on the courts below it. This paper discusses how the doctrine of binding precedent operates in the English Courts with its advantages and disadvantages.

The doctrine of binding precedent is fundamental to the English legal system. A precedent is a declaration made of the law by a Judge in deciding a case. “The Doctrine Of Binding Precedent” declares that within the ladder of the English courts a decision by a superior court will be binding on inferior courts.

In any good decision making process consistency will play an enormous role? which means like cases should be treated alike. A courts decision shall be consistent with decisions in previous cases and therefore providing certainty for future cases so that people will arrange their affairs relying on the courts opinion .The doctrine of binding precedent is based on the Latin maxim "Stare decesis et non quieta movere" (Bird? 1988? 234) which loosely translated means? stand by what has been decided and do not unsettle the established. Which means a decision made in one case is binding on all following cases of similar fact in lower courts.

Judicial precedent often referred to as case law? is one of the main sources of English law. Its roots go back to the early common laws of the country. It is based on the Latin maxim Stare decisis et non quieta morvere? which loosely translated means? stand by what has been decided and do not unsettle the established (Bird? 1988? 234).

In order for the judicial precedent system to work? an accurate detailed method of reporting cases is of great importance. After each case? a judge will give a speech? which contains two parts. The most important part is the section that contains details of the principle of law that has been used to base his decision on. This is called the ratio decidendi and means reason for deciding this is the part that creates binding precedent. The rest of the speech is called the obiter dicta? which means other things said. Although this part does not create binding law it may be persuasive? other judges may refer to it and speculate as to what the decision would have been if the facts of the case had been different (Bird? 1988? ...