Key term
AQA A-Level Law 7162
The Nature of Law
Topic overviewDistributive and Corrective JusticeTheories of Justice: Rawls, Nozick and MarxWhat Law Does in SocietyHow Law and Morality Are EnforcedMoral Diversity in a Pluralist SocietyThe Hart-Devlin DebateProcedural Justice and UtilitarianismThe Rule of Law: Core RequirementsLaw, Rights and the Resolution of DisputesFault and Strict LiabilityWhere Law and Morality OverlapWolfenden and R v BrownAristotle on JusticeJustice through Civil and Criminal LawCriminal and civil law comparedCustom, statute and common law as sourcesEquality, Fairness and Clarity before the Law
The European Union and English Law
Legal Personnel and the Judiciary
Access to Justice and Funding
Parliamentary Law Making
Delegated Legislation
Statutory Interpretation
Judicial Precedent
Law Reform
The Civil Courts and Dispute Resolution
The Criminal Courts and Sentencing
Lay People: Magistrates and Juries
Criminal Law: Rules and Theory
General Elements of Liability
Fatal Offences Against the Person
Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person
Property Offences
Preliminary Offences
Criminal Defences
Tort: Rules and Theory
Negligence
Occupiers' Liability
Nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher
Vicarious Liability
Tort: Defences and Remedies
Contract: Rules and TheoryContract
Formation of a ContractContract
Contract TermsContract
Vitiating FactorsContract
Discharge of a ContractContract
Contract: RemediesContract
Human Rights: Rules and TheoryHuman rights
Topic overviewArticle 2 and Article 5: Life and LibertyArticle 11 and the Conditions for RestrictionRights, Liberties and Correlative DutiesThe Scope of Fundamental Human RightsArticle 2 Exceptions and the Article 5 GuaranteeInterfering with Article 8 RightsArticle 10: Freedom of Expression and Its LimitsThe Human Rights Act and Categories of Rights
Human Rights in International and UK LawHuman rights
The European Convention ArticlesHuman rights
Topic overviewFreedom of Association and Its LimitsArticle 2: Justified Deprivation of LifeArticle 5: Lawful Arrest and DetentionArticle 8: Private and Family LifeArticle 11: What It ProtectsArticle 2: Negative and Positive ObligationsThe Article 2.2 Exceptions in DetailArticle 5.1: Liberty and Security of PersonDetention under Article 5.1(a) to (c)Article 5.2 to 5.5: Information and ReviewArticle 10.1: Freedom of ExpressionWhich Paragraphs Permit RestrictionThe Grounds for Lawful DetentionEnforcing Rights in Strasbourg and by Judicial Review
Restrictions and EnforcementHuman rights
Topic overviewThe Common Requirements for RestrictionsLegitimate Aims and ProportionalityBringing a Claim to the Strasbourg CourtArticle 46, Judicial Review and Section 7 ClaimsPrescribed by Law and Necessary in a DemocracyLegitimate Aims for Restricting Articles 10 and 11Enforcement in Strasbourg and at HomeThe Two General Conditions for RestrictionLegitimate Aims across Articles 8, 10 and 11Who May Claim and How Rights Are EnforcedSupervising Judgments and Judicial Review Remedies
Reform of Human Rights LawHuman rights
Judicial Precedent
- 3 subtopics
- 7 things to know
- All three papers
What Judicial Precedent covers
Binding and persuasive precedent, the hierarchy of the courts, and the ways a court may avoid a precedent by overruling, distinguishing or departing from it.
Where it is assessed
All three papers
The nature of law and the English legal system, 25 marks on each paper.
Check the AQA specification ↗The 3 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Precedent and the Court HierarchyRecall questions on the doctrine of precedent and on where the Court of Appeal, High Court, Crown Court and County Court sit within it.Open →
- Overruling, Distinguishing and Persuasive PrecedentRecall questions on following, overruling and distinguishing, how the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal may depart from their own decisions, original precedent, and persuasive sources such as obiter dicta, lower courts, other jurisdictions and dissents.Open →
- Advantages and Disadvantages of PrecedentRecall questions on how precedent brings consistency, certainty, flexibility, practical rules and saved time, and on its rigidity, the volume of case law, retrospective effect, dependence on litigation and illogical distinctions.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Which court is at the lowest level of the hierarchy for precedent purposes?
Key term
What are obiter dicta?
Process
How can decisions from other common law jurisdictions act as persuasive precedent?
Key term
What is the key difference between overruling and distinguishing a precedent?
Key term
How does the complexity and volume of case law create problems for judicial precedent?
Process
Where do the Court of Appeal, High Court and Crown Court sit in the hierarchy of precedent?
Take Judicial Precedent further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Ratio decidendi vs Obiter dicta
Ratio decidendi: the legal reasoning necessary to the decision, which binds later courts. Obiter dicta: remarks made in passing that are persuasive but not binding.
Binding precedent vs Persuasive precedent
Binding precedent: a decision a later court must follow. Persuasive precedent: a decision a later court may follow but need not.
Overruling vs Reversing
Overruling: a higher court declaring an earlier decision in a different case wrong. Reversing: a higher court changing the outcome of the same case on appeal.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the doctrine of judicial precedent?
Model answer
The principle that courts are bound to follow legal principles established in previous decisions of higher courts, ensuring consistency and predictability in the law.
- 2
Where does the Court of Appeal sit in the hierarchy of courts for precedent purposes?
Model answer
Second in the hierarchy, below the Supreme Court but above the High Court. It has both Civil and Criminal Divisions.
- 3
What position does the High Court occupy in the court hierarchy for precedent?
Model answer
Third in the hierarchy, below the Court of Appeal and above the Crown Court and County Court.
- 4
Where do the Crown Court and County Court sit in the precedent hierarchy?
Model answer
Fourth in the hierarchy, below the High Court and above the Magistrates' Court.
- 5
Which court is at the lowest level of the hierarchy for precedent purposes?
Model answer
The Magistrates' Court.
- 6
Which court sits at the top of the hierarchy for precedent purposes in England and Wales?
Model answer
The Supreme Court.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Judicial Precedent revision questions
- What does Judicial Precedent cover in AQA A-Level Law?
- 3 subtopics: precedent and the court hierarchy, overruling, distinguishing and persuasive precedent and advantages and disadvantages of precedent. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Judicial Precedent organised?
- By the AQA 7162 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Judicial Precedent, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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