Stare decisis makes the law rigid- lower courts have to follow decisions of higher courts AND Higher courts still usually follow their own past decisions even when they don’t have to
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Why is this a disadvantage?
Past decisions which are wrong or outdated don’t get changed so... will have to be followed, and repeated in later case
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Case Example to show this
Jones v ** for **- HoL refused to overrule Re Dowling even though 4/7 admitted decision was wrong – certainty over justice
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Disadvantage 2
Precedent is complex
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Why is Precedents Complex?
There are many precedents- nearly ½ million reported cases. The number of precedents increases with use of distinguishing where 2 precedents are made on the same point of law
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Why is this a problem?
It is difficult for judges to find relevant case law to follow, or to extract the ratio from a judgement.
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Case that shows how Precedent is complex
Dodd’s Case- judges in the C of A said they were unable to find the ratio in a HoL decision due to the long continuous prose that law reports are written in
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
How is Slowness of growth a disadvantage?
Back
Stare decisis makes the law rigid- lower courts have to follow decisions of higher courts AND Higher courts still usually follow their own past decisions even when they don’t have to
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