Precedent Flashcards
Define ratio decidendi
Binding part of written judgement
What is a case to show ratio decidendi?
R v Howe
What was the binding part of R v Howe
Duress is not a defense to murder
Define obiter dicta
‘Other things said’ May be persuasive
What case was persuaded by obiter dicta
R v Gotts was persuaded by R v Howe’s duress is not a defense to attempted murder
What are four features of law reporting?
- Formal systematic law reporting has been carried out since 1865 but there are any reports that predate this
- The reports contain the area of law, date, court, parties, judges and advocates as well as the facts and judgement
- They are either written by the judge themselves or an independent lawyer who is checked by the judge
- They can be found on specialist journals, websites and certain broadsheet newspapers.
What are the functions of court hierarchy?
1) Allow refinement of law by increasingly more capable judges throughout appeal process
2) Informs us about status and authority of particular decision
3) Allocates cases to courts with specialist knowledge
What is the order of courts in the court hierarchy?
For criminal cases:
The most inferior is the Magistrates court, then it is the Crown court, High Court, Court of Appeal then Supreme Court
For civil cases:
The most inferior is a County court, ordinary high court, then the high courts with two split divisions (Chancery and Family), Court of Appeal nd then the Supreme Court.
Define overruling
Any higher court can overrule a lower court
What are the cases that demonstrate overruling?
Pepper v Hart 1993 overruled Davis v Johnson 1979
What is the Practice Statement of 1966?
Gave the supreme court the power to overrule its own decisions
What is a case that demonstrates the Practice statement 1966
R v G overruled MPC v Caldwell
or
Arthur J.S Hall v Simons overruled Rondel v Worsley
What is thhe Young v Bristol Aeroplane?
It allows the Court of Appeal to overrule its own decisions if either:
1- There is a later Supreme Court decision that says something different
2- Two earlier COA decisions conflict
3- The earlier COA decision overlooked some piece of legislation in error
What is distinguishing?
Any judge can distinguish a case by showing that the facts are significantly different to a case they are supposed to be bound by.
What case gives an example of distinguishing?
Merritt v Merritt distinguishes Balfour v Balfour
Wisher v Essex - SUPREME COURT ALONE
