Ratio Decidendi And Obiter Dictum Law Constitutional Administrative Essay

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction

Legal sys

2 most senior courts

Supreme Court used to be House of Lords

Appeals court

Judicial precedent

Hierarchy

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court was established in 2009 replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, assuming its judicial functions and role as the most senior court, it is the final court of appeal for both civil and criminal cases in England and Wales. The establishment of the Supreme Court separated the United Kingdom’s most senior judges and the upper house of parliament, increasing the transparency between Parliament and the courts, as well as highlighting the independence of the Law Lords (The Supreme Court, 2013?)

The Supreme Court has 12 judges known as Justices of the Supreme Court and is directed by a president, deputy president. The court always sits in panels of an uneven number of Judges; cases are heard by a minimum of three judges but are typically heard by five judges.

The main function of The Supreme Court is to hear appeals on questionable points of law of importance to the general public from The Court of Appeal and in some cases the high court. The Supreme Court will also hear both Civil and criminal cases of the greatest public and constitutional importance.

The decision made by the Supreme Court, Specifically the ratio decidendi must be followed by all inferior courts (stare decisis). The Supreme Court does however have the right to depart from its previous decision when it appears right to do so.

The Supreme Court has the right to overrule or reverse any decision made in the English legal system.

Overruling would usually occur when the previous court applied the law incorrectly or because the later court finds the rule of law used in the ratio decidendi no longer desirable.

Reversing would occur in the event of a higher court overturning on appeal of the decision made by a lower court hearing the appeal. The court would then substitute its own decision.

The Court of Appeal

The court of appeal is the second most senior court in England; it is separated into a civil division and a criminal division. It is the highest court of the senior courts, which includes the High Court and Crown Court.

The Court of appeal hears appeals from the high court and the county courts. The appeal could be on a question of law or a fact from a lower court and certain tribunals..

The Civil Division hears appeals form the High Court, County Courts across England and Wales and certain Tribunals. The civil division’s president is known as Master of the Rolls.

The Criminal Division hears appeals from the Crown Court; the head of the criminal division is called Lord Chief Justice. Both divisions are generally heard by three judges known as Lord Justices and Lady Justices.

The Court of Appeal must follow the decisions of the Supreme Court even if it considers them to be wrong, but can depart from previous decisions made by themselves or lower courts in the following circumstances:

The Court of Appeal must choose which decision to follow or reject when its own previous decisions conflict.

If the decision cannot stand with a decision of the Supreme Court, then the Court of Appeal must refuse to follow its own previous decision.

The Court of Appeal does not need to follow a decision it has previously made if it was given by carelessness or error.

The principle of stare decisis is not followed as firmly in criminal cases because someone’s liberty may be at risk.

Judicial Precedent

Judicial precedent is the process whereby judges follow previously decided cases where the facts are sufficiently similar. The doctrine of judicial precedent involves an application of the principle of stare decisis (to standby the decided). In practice this means inferior courts are bound to apply the principles set down by superior courts in earlier cases. This provides predictability and consistency in the law.

Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dictum

The ratio decidendi is the binding part of a decision and is the principle of law on which the decision of a case is based.

The obiter dictum speculates what the judge would of decided if the facts of the case had been different, it may be of persuasive authority in later cases but it is not binding on future cases. Difficulty can arise in the event of the judge not specifying what the ratio decidendi is; it would then be the later judge’s responsibility to interpret what the ratio of the case is. It is also possible for more than one ratio and can disagreement over what or which part is the ratio of the case.