English Law Basics · glossary
A decision a court must follow because a higher court made it. The County Court, where Frescalva’s claim would start, follows every court above it. The Supreme Court’s decisions, and the House of Lords’ before it, bind every other court. Case note, Willers v Joyce · Chapter 2 · see Overruled, Ratio
Explained in Chapter 2, Doctrine of Precedent: Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dicta, of English Law Basics.
Judges make law by deciding cases: once a court has decided a point, the courts below it must decide it the same way. Lawyers call this binding precedent. That is why a note cites cases: it tells Naomi which court said what, and whether the judge in this claim must follow it. A case can stop binding when a higher court says it was wrong, so you check each one first.Read Chapter 2, Doctrine of Precedent: Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dicta →
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