Chapter 5 Self-test questions

. 'Case law' is the term used by common lawyers to describe the collection of legal principles emanating from all of the reported cases on a given topic.

True

False

. What does the Latin phrase stare decisis literally translate as?

Stay decided.

The ratio is decisive.

Let the decision stay.

Let the decision stand.

. In practice, the principle of stare decisis means that all courts of equal or lower status to the court making the decision will be bound by that decision if the two cases are similar.

True

False

. Case 1: A man is walking his dog in the park. The dog bites a passing toddler, who has done nothing to provoke the dog. The man is held liable in negligence.
Case 2: A woman's cat bites a teenager who was pulling its tail.
Which of the following would the judge in case 2 need to consider in deciding whether case 1 should be applied (select all that apply)?

Whether the principle of liability is applicable to dogs only or can include cats.

Whether the fact that it was a toddler who was bitten gave rise to liability in case 1 and so excludes cases relating to teenagers.

Whether it is significant that the attack on the toddler was unprovoked because the attack on the teenager was provoked.

There is no cat in case 1 and these breeds are irrelevant both to establishing liability in case 1 and to the question of whether this should be applied to case 2.

. Which of the following statements is illustrated by the reasoning of the Court of Appeal in Household Fire Insurance Co v Grant?

Judges may use the same authority to come to different conclusions.

The Court of Appeal was not bound by Dunlop v Higgins because it was decided by a lower court.

Precedent is fixed so judges cannot decide to interpret it individually.

Judges using the same authority must come to the same conclusion.

. Which of the following are not persuasive precedents?

A decision of the Court of Appeal (when considered by the High Court

Decisions of courts of lower status.

Decisions of the Scottish and Northern Irish courts.

Decisions of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

. Decisions of the House of Lords/Supreme Court are binding upon all courts including the Supreme Court itself.

True

False

. Which of the following would not be sufficient reason to date for the Supreme Court to overturn its own previous decision?

The earlier decision was wrong.

Public policy suggests that the decision should be overturned.

The review would affect the resolution of the actual case.

The outcome was wrong but the reasoning was correct.

. Retrospective overruling means that the ruling catches the parties to the case, and any other cases coming before the court, even if events occurred before the decision was given. Prospective overruling means that only events occurring after the ruling are caught by it.

True

False

. Complete the following (select all that apply): per incuriam…

is a rule that allows the Court of Appeal not to follow a previous House of Lords/Supreme Court decision.

was a rule invented by Lord Denning and died with him.

cannot be used by the Court of Appeal as a reason not to follow a previous House of Lords/Supreme Court decision.

means that a court failed to consider all the relevant and vital statutes or case authorities and this had a major effect on its decision.

. The latin maxim cessante ratione legis, cessat ipsa lex means 'with the reason for the rule ceasing, the law itself no longer exists'.

True

False

. When can the Court of Appeal decide not to follow a decision made by the House of Lords/Supreme Court?

Never.

When the House of Lords'/Supreme Court decision is clearly wrong, and both the reasoning and the decision should be departed from.

When cessante ratione legis, cessat ipsa lex.

When the House of Lords'/Supreme Court decision was made per incuriam.

When the rules set out by the 1966 Practice Statement apply.

. When is the Court of Appeal not bound by its own previous decisions (select all that apply)?

When the Court of Appeal has expressly chosen not to follow an earlier House of Lords'/Supreme Court decision.

When the House of Lords/Supreme Court has expressly or impliedly overruled the Court of Appeal's reasoning.

When the previous decision has been made per incuriam.

When there are two conflicting Court of Appeal decisions.

. What was significant about the case of R v Faqir Mohammed?

The House of Lords decided that Smith was the correct authority rather than the JCPC's decision in Jersey v Holley.

In this case, the JCPC overruled the previous House of Lords decision in Smith.

In this case, the Court of Appeal decided to follow the JCPC's decision in Jersey v Holley instead of the House of Lords decision in Smith, overcoming the strict rules of stare decisis.

The Court of Appeal decided not to follow its own previous decision in Jersey v Holley.

. The 'leapfrogging' procedure is where criminal cases go on appeal from the High Court directly to the House of Lords.

True

False

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