Judicial Precedent & Negligence
Part 1. Judicial Precedent
“Stare decesis et non quieta movere” – roughly translated means “Stand by what has been decided and do not unsettle the established” - This is the main legal principle, which judges are obliged to follow the already set-up precedents, established by prior decisions. This means that a decision made in one case can be binding on all following cases under similar circumstances. The principle of stare decisis consists of two components. The first is the rule that a decision made by a superior court is binding which an inferior court cannot change. The second type of precedents will not be delved into any further at this point.
A binding precedent (also mandatory or binding authority) is a precedent which must be followed by all lower courts under common law legal systems. In English law it is usually created by the decision of a higher court, such as the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Judges are bound by the law of binding precedents in England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions. This is a distinctive feature of the English legal system. Two facts are crucial to determining whether a precedent is binding:
1. The current court’s position in the court hierarchy, relative to the position of the court that decided the precedent.
2. Whether the facts of the current case come within in the scope the principle of law in previous decisions.
In giving judgment in a case, the judge will set out the facts of the case, state the law applicable to the facts and then provide his decision. It is only the ratio decidendi (the legal reasoning or ground for the judicial decision) which is binding on later courts under the system of judicial precedent.
The other two principles besides ratio decidendi. They are:
Law reports
Precedents can be found in law reports and the doctrine of judicial precedent depends upon an accurate record being kept of previous decisions.
Law reports have been published since 1865 under the control of what
“Stare decesis et non quieta movere” – roughly translated means “Stand by what has been decided and do not unsettle the established” - This is the main legal principle, which judges are obliged to follow the already set-up precedents, established by prior decisions. This means that a decision made in one case can be binding on all following cases under similar circumstances. The principle of stare decisis consists of two components. The first is the rule that a decision made by a superior court is binding which an inferior court cannot change. The second type of precedents will not be delved into any further at this point.
A binding precedent (also mandatory or binding authority) is a precedent which must be followed by all lower courts under common law legal systems. In English law it is usually created by the decision of a higher court, such as the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Judges are bound by the law of binding precedents in England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions. This is a distinctive feature of the English legal system. Two facts are crucial to determining whether a precedent is binding:
1. The current court’s position in the court hierarchy, relative to the position of the court that decided the precedent.
2. Whether the facts of the current case come within in the scope the principle of law in previous decisions.
In giving judgment in a case, the judge will set out the facts of the case, state the law applicable to the facts and then provide his decision. It is only the ratio decidendi (the legal reasoning or ground for the judicial decision) which is binding on later courts under the system of judicial precedent.
The other two principles besides ratio decidendi. They are:
Law reports
Precedents can be found in law reports and the doctrine of judicial precedent depends upon an accurate record being kept of previous decisions.
Law reports have been published since 1865 under the control of what
Bibliography: Carney, D. D. (2006). Introduction to English Law. Pearson Education. Cooke, J. (1999). Law of Tort. London: Pitman Publishing. McBride, N. J., & Bagshaw, R. (2005). Tort Law. Longman. Quinn, E. &. (1996). Tort Law. London: Pearson. Slapper, G., & Kelly, D. (2000). English Law. Cavendish Publishing Limited. Smith, K., & Keenan, D. (2001). English Law. Longman.