advantages and disadvantages of judicial precedent

Question 1

advantage 1, Certainty

Answer 1

-Because court follow past decisions, people know what the law is and how likely it will be applied to the case so lawyers can advise client on how likely that outcome would be

Question 2

advantage 2, consistency and fairness

Answer 2

similar cases should be treated in similar ways so the law must be consistent if it is to be credible

Question 3

advantage 3, time saving

Answer 3

Where a principle has been established, cases with similar facts are unlikely to go to a long process

Question 4

disadvantage 1, rigidity

Answer 4

The fact that lower courts have to follow decisions of the higher court and that the Court of Appeal has to follow on past decisions can make law too inflexible
-Can only change law if parties have the money courage and persistence

Question 5

disadvantage 2, complexity

Answer 5

nearly half 1 million cases so it’s not easy to find all relevant caselaw even with a computerised database
- sometimes, there is no clear distinction between comments and reasons for decision made which makes it difficult to identify the ratio decidendi

Question 6

disadvantage 3, slowness of growth

Answer 6

• judges are aware that some areas of law are clear on need to reform but they cannot make a decision unless there is a case before courts