Judicial Precedent Flashcards
Who is the ECJ bound by?
No one
What is the court hierarchy?
ECJ, Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, Crown Court, magistrates
Who is the Supreme Court bound by?
ECJ and itself
How can the Supreme Court overrule itself?
The Practise statement, “when it appears right to do so” (Lord Chancellor)
What are two examples of the Practise statement in use?
Pepper v Hart and Davis v Johnston (banned Hansard)
R v Howe and R v Lynch (duress is not a defence)
Who is the Court of Appeal bound by?
ECJ, Supreme Court and itself (some exceptions
What case were the exceptions created by?
Young v Bristol Airplane Company
What are the exceptions that apply to the Court of Appeal
1) decision was made per incuriam
2) two COA decisions conflict
3) a later decision in SC or ECJ overrules the COA decision
4) ignore if previous decision is inconsistent with European Community Law
5) if S. 2 of the Human Rights Act 1998 overrules it
Who is the High Court bound by?
all above courts and family and chancery are bound by itself
Is the crown court bound to follow itself?
No
Are magistrates bound to follow itself?
No
What does Stare Decisis mean?
Let the previous decision stand
What is an example of Stare Decisis
Donaghue v Stevenson and Daniels v White
What does Ratio Decidendi mean?
The reason for deciding
What does the Judge do at the end of the case?
He presents his written judgement (Case Law) at the end
What does the Case Law include?
It includes the facts and legal principles (ratio Decidendi) used to reach his decision
