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.