Chapter 4 Key facts checklists

Sources of Law II: Case Law
  • Case law, also known as the common law, is a set of judge-made rules that have either a binding or persuasive effect on future cases.
  • Whether precedent is binding is dependent on whether there is a statement of law, as opposed to fact, certain reasoning for that decision (known as ratio decidendi), and the decision of a superior court.
  • Certain courts are obliged to follow previous judgments, whereas others can ignore them due to their seniority.
  • Judges act in a quasi-law-making capacity when developing judicial precedent.
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