P1 Judicial Precedent in the Courts - BTEC Law Unit 2
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Course
Unit 2 - Understanding Law Making
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
BTEC Law Unit 2 P1 Judicial Precedent - This is an extremely detailed PowerPoint!
This document contains a detailed description of: Judicial Precedent, Binding and Persuasive Authority, Law Reporting, the Practice Statement, Court of Appeal, Distinguishing, Reversing, and Overruling. Case examples...
Precedent
- A previous judicial decision that is regarded as a guide to be
considered in subsequent similar Court cases.
, What is Precedent?
Precedent is the law established by Judges and uses a previous judicial decision as a guide to be considered in
subsequent similar Court cases. Original Precedent occurs where the case is new and the facts have never been
presented or put before a court, hence there is no existing Precedent to follow. Precedent is a rule developed in a
legal case that is either binding on, or persuasive for, a Court when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues
Precedent therefore maintains the consistency of the law because cases with similar facts will yield similar and pr
outcomes. The English system of Precedent is based on the Latin ‘stare decisis’ which means to stand by what ha
previously been decided and do not unsettle the established. The principles of law forming the judgment are know
ratio decidendi (reason for deciding) and the rest of the judgment is known as obiter dicta (other things said).
An example of original Precedent can be seen in the case of Donoghue vs Stevenson (1932). The claimant’s fri
purchased her an ice cream and a bottle of ginger beer from a café. Having drunk some of the contents from the d
bottle, and therefore unable to see the contents, Mrs Donoghue poured the remainder over her ice cream and a
decomposing snail emerged from the bottle. Mrs Donoghue was subsequently ill due to the impurities in the drink
commenced a claim against the manufacturer, which was successful. The facts and circumstances of this case ha
been presented to a Court before, hence original Precedent was subsequently established, as was the neighbour
is the principle that one must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which could injure other persons.
, What is Binding Authority?
Binding Authority is a precedent from an earlier case which must be adhered to even if the Judge in
later case disagrees with the legal principle. It is only created when the facts of the later case are
sufficiently similar to the original case and the judicial decision was made by a court senior to, or the
level as, the court hearing the later case. Binding Precedent is dependent on the legal principle of st
decisis because it ensures certainty and consistency in the application of the law.
An example of Binding Precedent can be seen in the case of R vs Howe & Bannister (1987). The
defendants had committed two murders and had conspired to murder a third person, acting on the o
of an older associate who had threatened them with violence. The judgment passed down included
binding precedent, or ratio decidendi, that duress is not a defence for murder.
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