English Law Basics · glossary
What happens to an older case when a higher court decides it was wrong: it no longer states the law, though it still sits in the reports. Photo Production overruled Harbutt’s Plasticine in 1980. That is why Naomi struck the first line of note 4. Research note 4, the struck line (internal) · Chapter 2 · see Binding precedent
Explained in Chapter 2, Doctrine of Precedent: Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dicta, of English Law Basics.
A higher court can also decide that an older case was wrong. The older case is then overruled: it no longer states the law. Nothing is stamped on the old report. It still sits on the shelf, and still reads as if it were the law.Read Chapter 2, Doctrine of Precedent: Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dicta →
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