LAWS 1000 Lecture Notes - Ratio Decidendi, Precedent, Obiter Dictum
Document Summary
Anatomy of a judicial decision: we need to recognize that every case is different no crime is exactly the same, so precedent can"t really apply if were talking about facts. 2 basic parts of a case; ratio decidendi; supposed to find out the main reason, obiter dictum; outside the decision. It"s very hard to find these parts; obiter can be quite persuasive, having a distinction between obiter and ratio. Precedent has to do with the level of court, it doesn"t work bottom to top, it"s more top to down. 2 limitations; in practice it"s messy blurry ; in court cases, the ratio of decision, the reason for deciding may not be clear, not easy to find, may not necessarily be complimentary slightly contradictory. Llewelyn and the realist take : we need to understand what precedent is; strict view ; orthodox view, narrow view of a decision you"d use this approach for an un-welcome precedent.
