Judicial Precedent

What Judicial Precedent covers

How decided cases bind later courts, and the ways a court can escape a precedent.

The 3 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The doctrine of precedentRecall questions on ratio decidendi and obiter dicta, and on the advantages of precedent in consistency, certainty, flexibility and saving time against its disadvantages of complexity, rigidity, illogical distinctions and retrospective effect.Open →
• The hierarchy of the courtsRecall questions on stare decisis and why it depends on the court hierarchy, the civil and criminal hierarchies from the County Court and Magistrates' Court up to the Supreme Court, and the appeal routes between them.Open →
• Binding, persuasive and avoiding precedentRecall questions on original, binding and persuasive precedent, overruling, reversing and distinguishing, the Practice Statement 1966, the exceptions in Young v Bristol Aeroplane, per incuriam decisions, and Lord Denning's challenge to stare decisis.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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. 1

   What is the ratio decidendi of a judgment?

   Model answer

   The ratio decidendi is the legal reasoning or principle upon which a court's decision is based, and this part of the judgment creates binding precedent.

2. 2

   Define obiter dicta and explain its status as precedent.

   Model answer

   Obiter dicta are statements made 'by the way' in a judgment that are not essential to the decision. They do not create binding precedent but may be persuasive.

3. 3

   How can obiter dicta function as a source of persuasive precedent?

   Model answer

   Although obiter dicta are not binding, courts may be influenced by these 'by the way' statements when reaching their decisions.

4. 4

   How does judicial precedent promote consistency and fairness in the law?

   Model answer

   By requiring courts to follow previous decisions in similar cases, ensuring like cases are treated alike.

5. 5

   Why is certainty considered an advantage of the doctrine of precedent?

   Model answer

   Because established legal principles allow people to plan their affairs knowing how the law will be applied.

6. 6

   How does precedent save time in the legal system?

   Model answer

   Legal principles are already established from previous cases, so courts do not need to argue every point of law from scratch.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Judicial Precedent revision questions

What does Judicial Precedent cover in OCR A-Level Law?

3 subtopics: the doctrine of precedent, the hierarchy of the courts and binding, persuasive and avoiding precedent. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Judicial Precedent organised?

By the OCR H418 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.