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Doctrine of Judicial Precedent

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Doctrine of Judicial Precedent

The doctrine of judicial precedent is correlated to case law and it is also referred to as doctrine of `stare decisis . It is a source of law by itself and it was developed by ancient English Law Courts . The doctrine stipulates a legal requirement for a judge to refer to earlier cases decided by his /her predecessors in order to find out if the material facts of any of those cases are similar to the

material facts of a case before him /her . In situations where the material facts of the earlier case are substantially similar to the one before him /her , the judge is bound by that earlier decision and determines the current case similarly . Therefore , it is said that decision stays or stare decisis (Cross , 1991

Subsequently , the principle of `ratio decidendi ' is used to explain judicial precedent and encompasses material facts of a previous case meaning reasons for decision . It thus stands as an independent legal rule applicable to similar cases in future . Judicial precedents are classified in various ways : binding precedents -decisions made by higher courts , persuasive precedent -decisions made by lower courts , original precedent -creates new legal rule , and declaratory precedent -applies existing legal principle (Cross , 1991

The doctrine of judicial precedence is important in that it acts as a mechanism for administering justice and enable judges makes decisions in a standard manner or objectively rather than being personal or subjective...