Precedent As A Source of Law And It's Advantages And Disadvantages (2023)

Table of Contents hide

1) Introduction

2) Definition of Precedent

3) History of Precedent

4) Types of Judicial Precedent

4.1) 1. Declaratory or Original Precedent –

4.2) 2. Persuasive Precedent –

4.3) 3. Absolutely authoritative –

4.4) 4. Conditionally authoritative –

5) Doctrine of Stare Decisis

(Video) precedents as source of law|legislation as source of law|sources of law in hindi|jurisprudence2 lect

7) Importance of Judicial Precedents as a source of law

7.1) Advantages

7.2) Disadvantages

8) Conclusion

Introduction

Every developed legal system has a judicial organ. The main function of this body is to adjudicate the rights and duties of the citizens. Earlier, in this adjudication, the courts are guided by customs and their own sense of justice. There are many sources from where we can derive what we know to be law. Law in layman’s terms is nothing but a set of rules created and enforced by the courts. Judicial precedent or decision is the primary source of law. It is a process which is followed by the judge’s to take decision.

One of the sources of law is legislation which means ‘rulemaking’. It is also one of the primary sources of law which has a huge ambit with regards to authorization. Customs form another important part of the law. Customs have been brought down from generation to generation and have been in practice since time immemorial. Laws are based on these customs. It is a reflection of society and it makes necessary to include the various customs in order to protect the interests of a diverse culture.

With the advent of society, legislation becomes the main source of law and judges decide cases according to it. Even now, the judges perform some creative functions.

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(Video) Merits and Demerits of Precedent

Meaning of precedent – it is a decision or action taken by judges that have occurred earlier and act as guidance for similar situations or cases. It is a principle or rule that was declared or laid down in a past legal case. It is advisory or binding on courts and tribunals when a case with similar facts arises before it.

Definition of Precedent

Gray – “A judicial precedent covers everything said or done, which furnished a rule for subsequent practice”

Salmond – Precedent is, in a loose sense, ‘it includes merely reported case law which may be cited & followed by courts.’ In a strict sense, that case law which not only has a great binding authority but must also be followed.

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Austin – Precedent is “judiciary’s law”.

Bentham – ‘Precedents are judge-made laws’.

Keetone – Judicial precedent is a judicial decision to which authority has in some measure been attached.

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History of Precedent

In ancient society, there have been less number of disputes occurred and there have few occasions to go to courts. So at that time, there was less possibility of development of precedent due to lack of adequate sources to maintain the record. In the absence of a proper organized judicial system, no doctrine of precedent developed in India as it has developed in England. In British rule, the theory of precedent started developing[1].

Indian law is largely based on English common law it is because; India was a colony of the British for a long period of time. Precedents became a source of law only during the British control in India.

The Government of India Act, 1935 established a federal court and Privy Council whose decisions were binding on all the other courts in the country and this was the beginning of using precedents in deciding judgments, soon with the passing of time precedents acquired a lot of importance[2].

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(Video) Precedent, its types, merits and demerits of Judicial Precedent

Types of Judicial Precedent

1. Declaratory or Original Precedent –

In declaratory precedents, the application of a rule in an earlier legal case is used. A declaratory precedent involves declaring an existing law and putting it into practice and it doesn’t help in creating new law. In Original precedents, it arises when the court has never taken a decision in a case and it has to use its own discretion in order to come to conclusion and it results in the creation of new laws. An original precedent is one where a new law is created and applied in a legal matter.

2. Persuasive Precedent –

Persuasive Precedent includes decisions taken by an inferior court that a superior court or other court is not obliged to follow. This precedent is commonly seen in High Courts, where the judgments of one High Court can be considered as persuasive precedent in another. It is not directly considered as a source of law but is seen as a form of historical precedents. In India, the decisions of one high court can act as effective precedents in other high courts.

3. Absolutely authoritative –

It is one of which, where the judge is legally bound to follow the judicial decision of the precedent in a case of law irrespective of whether he finds it wrong. This is generally seen in cases where the bench is smaller than the bench decided upon the precedent that the judges depend on. This is also possible in cases of hierarchy, where certain courts have to rely on decisions made by superior courts.

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4. Conditionally authoritative –

It is one where generally the precedent is considered absolutely authoritative but can be disregarded in cases where parties appearing before the Supreme Court. The decision can also be overruled. The court can overlook the decision if it is a wrong decision, or goes against the law and reason.

Doctrine of Stare Decisis

This doctrine derives from Latin term which means ‘to stand by things decided’. It is the legal principle that requires judges to stand by and respect the precedents laid down by previous similar decisions. This doctrine is mentioned in Article 141 of the constitution.

Parts of a decision

Ratio decidendi

Ratio decidendi derives from Latin term and the literal meaning of the term is “reason for the decision”. It includes the rule of law or principle upon which a judicial decision is based. The principle is applicable to all upcoming judgments which have similar facts. It is binding on all the subordinate courts of the country. The reason or ratio of taking a decision are conclude from the facts of the case and later applied in all other cases, it forms the basis for accepting a particular decision as precedent.

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Obiter dictum

Obiter dictum also derives from Latin term which means the things said otherwise. It is an additional opinion, observation or remark on the other issue made by a judge which does not form a necessary part of the court’s decision. It refers to certain opinions, statements, observations, ideas, examples, etc which are made by the judges while making the decisions. These opinions are not binding on all the other courts while they are only persuasive in nature.

Importance of Judicial Precedents as a source of law

The importance of precedent or past decisions taken by judges is recognized as a source of law since ancient times. The main function of the judiciary is the adjudication of disputes. Initially, while adjudicating, the courts are guided by customs and their own sense of justice. Subsequently, legislation becomes the main source of law and the Rule of law is what judges may derive their decisions from. Precedent plays an important role almost in every legal system.

Advantages

  • Judicial precedent helps to prepare new statutory laws and will adjust according to the changing conditions of the society.
  • Judicial precedent helps the court system to save time on future cases and increases convenience as a question once decided is settled.
  • It creates a system where everyone dealing with a similar case will treat in a similar manner, which leads to equality and fairness of justice.
  • Binding judicial precedent establishes a regulation that helps to maintain stability.
  • It provides the judicial system a certain measures of flexibility.
  • It provides cases which makes them more practical.
  • It also acts as guidelines to decide upcoming cases.

Disadvantages

  • It is considered to be rigid to alter a precedent once followed.
  • A judicial precedent imposes a foundation on lower courts to follow it, which sometimes forces them to take lesser or harsher decisions than actually required.
  • There are many precedents regarding many cases which make it difficult to implement the right precedent in the right case.
  • Some situations are not recognized under precedent as they are not considered into account.
  • When a case is distinguished it is not mandatory to follow a precedent.
  • It forces the system to look backwards instead of looking toward the future.
  • This process can introduce unnecessary restrictions into the law.

Conclusion

From the above, we can infer that precedents play a vital role in filling the gap in law and various statutes. It also increases the faith in the judiciary and makes laws more acceptable morally. The presence of judicial precedent makes it easier for the courts to form decisions when the case before them is a reflection of previously-decided law. This system certifies that the consistency and certainty provided with the justice system offers a fast, effective judicial process that works effectively and fairly for everyone. When every case receives similar outcomes are predictable. The rules and principles developed under this system create more flexibility within the judicial system as well. It does not always save the time and labour of judges but also secures predictability, certainty, and uniformity in the application of law. This system helps to interpret law and make changes according to the need and requirements of society.

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(Video) What is Precedent? How Precedents Are Created I Importance of Precedent I Kinds of Precedent

References

Rachit Garg, Judicial precedent is a source of law, https://blog.ipleaders.in/judicial-precedent-source-law/

Principle Sources of Indian Law – Judicial Decision, https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-laws/introduction-to-law/principle-sources-of-indian-law-judicial-decisions/

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[1] Kiranpreet Kaur, India: Judicial Precedents in India, 10 Feb 2020, https://www.mondaq.com/india/trials-appeals-compensation/882616/judicial-precedents-in-india

[2] G Kusuma, Precedents as a Source of Law, http://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-2216-precedents-as-a-source-of-law.html

This article has been written by Chetna Gupta, BA LLB – 3rd year student at Department of Law, PIMR, Indore.

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FAQs

What are the advantages and disadvantages of precedence? ›

It can be distinguished, or even overruled (if the court is at a sufficient hierarchy to be permitted to overrule - i.e. Supreme court). ADVANTAGES: -predictability -certainty -avoid ad hoc decision making DISADVANTAGES: -inflexibe -stagnation GENERAL DEBATE: certainty vs justice.

What are the disadvantages of precedence? ›

Disadvantages
  • It is considered to be rigid to alter a precedent once followed.
  • A judicial precedent imposes a foundation on lower courts to follow it, which sometimes forces them to take lesser or harsher decisions than actually required.
Feb 27, 2021

What is precedent and why is it important in our legal system? ›

Precedent refers to a court decision that is considered as authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts, or similar legal issues. Precedent is incorporated into the doctrine of stare decisis and requires courts to apply the law in the same manner to cases with the same facts.

What is the advantage of common law based on precedent? ›

Why is common law important? Common law places an emphasis on precedent while allowing some freedom for interpretation. The value of a common-law system is that the law can be adapted to situations that were not contemplated at that time by the legislature.

What are advantages of precedent? ›

The main advantage of using precedent is that it provides certainty in the law. As cases with sufficiently similar material facts are bound by past decisions, it provides an idea of how the case will be decided. Another advantage is that it provides consistent decisions within the law, which also ensures fairness.

What are advantage and disadvantages? ›

As nouns, the difference between disadvantage and advantage is that disadvantage is a weakness or undesirable characteristic; a con while the advantage is any condition, circumstance, opportunity, or means, particularly favorable to success, or any desired end.

What are the disadvantages of precedence diagram? ›

One major practical disadvantage of precedence diagrams is the size of the box. The box has to be large enough to show the activity title, duration and earliest and latest times so that the space taken up on a sheet of paper reduces the network size.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of operator precedence parsing? ›

The major advantage of it is the simplicity. It is also easy to construct.It is also so powerfull that can be used for the programming language expressions. The major disadvantage is the of it being the grammar of small class. In it it is also difficult to identify or decide that grammar recognized which language.

What are the major disadvantages of planning? ›

Disadvantages of Planning
  • Rigidity. Planning has tendency to make administration inflexible. ...
  • Misdirected Planning. Planning may be used to serve individual interests rather than the interest of the enterprise. ...
  • Time consuming. ...
  • Probability in planning. ...
  • False sense of security. ...
  • Expensive.

Is precedent an important source of law? ›

precedents are a very effective source of law as they are time efficient and also ensure equal justice, but a good system needs to be developed with efficient and clear hierarchy of court that properly defines the courts in various levels, India has adopted this system from common law but lacks in its implementation ...

What is precedent as a source of law? ›

Judicial precedent is the source of law where past decisions create law for Judges to refer back to for guidance in future cases. Precedent is based upon the principle of stare decisis et non quieta movere, more commonly referred to as 'stare decisis', meaning to “stand by decided matters”.

What is an example of precedent in law? ›

Precedent Set: A state can deny unemployment benefits to a worker fired for using illegal drugs, even if used in a religious ceremony. This 1990 Supreme Court case began when two Native American men working in Oregon were fired for using peyote after failing a drug test.

What are the disadvantages and advantages of common law? ›

Pros and Cons

The benefit of a common law system is that you can be confident of what will happen in your case if a similar case has been heard before. The drawback is that if you have an unusual case, there is nothing to stop a judge creating a new law and applying it to your case.

What are disadvantages common law? ›

Disadvantage: Common law is reactive, not proactive.

Courts make decisions only in the individual cases which are brought before them. They develop legal principles only in light of specific situations. should receive similar treatment.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of stare decisis? ›

Rigidity: Sometimes, stare decisis brings flexibility to the table. But other times, it just makes it harder to overrule a bad decision. While there is often no obligation to follow precedent, the doctrine is fairly ingrained into the legal system, so judges will usually need a very good reason to overrule a decision.

What is pros and cons advantages and disadvantages? ›

The pros and cons of something are its advantages and disadvantages, which you consider carefully so that you can make a sensible decision. They sat for hours debating the pros and cons of setting up their own firm. Motherhood has both its pros and cons.

How do you answer advantages and disadvantages essay? ›

Advantage / Disadvantage Essay Tips
  1. spend time planning the benefits and drawbacks of the statement given.
  2. make sure you have relevant supporting points.
  3. put your advantages together in one body paragraph and the same with the disadvantages.
  4. follow a safe advantage disadvantage essay model.

What is disadvantage and example? ›

noun. absence or deprivation of advantage or equality. the state or an instance of being in an unfavorable circumstance or condition: to be at a disadvantage. something that puts one in an unfavorable position or condition: His bad temper is a disadvantage.

Which one is a disadvantage for operator precedence parsing? ›

Disadvantages- The handling of tokens known to have two different precedence becomes difficult. Only small class of grammars can be parsed using this parser.

What is the main characteristic of a precedence diagram? ›

Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) is a visual representation technique that depicts the activities involved in a project. It is a method of constructing a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes/nodes to represent activities and connects them with arrows that show the dependencies.

How do you explain precedence diagram? ›

A precedence diagram is a graphic representation of a project plan. It includes the critical activities in a project, as well as the dependencies between each one. These diagrams typically feature an activity on node (AON) style that uses nodes to represent activities and arrows to represent dependencies.

What are the main advantages and disadvantages of using algorithms? ›

1. It is a step-wise representation of a solution to a given problem, which makes it easy to understand. 2. An algorithm uses a definite procedure.
...
Disdvantages of Algorithms:
  • Alogorithms is Time consuming.
  • Difficult to show Branching and Looping in Algorithms.
  • Big tasks are difficult to put in Algorithms.
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What are the advantages of operators? ›

Well-trained operators ensure better running machines, fewer stoppages and less manual intervention leading to fewer opportunities for error. Higher mailpiece integrity in complex jobs paves the way to more revenue, too. If quality issues are keeping you up at night, operator training is the solution.

What are the disadvantages of top-down parsing? ›

The prediction which led to the mismatching terminal symbol is rejected and the string marker (pointer) is reset to its previous position when the rejected production was made. This is known as backtracking. Backtracking was the major drawback of top-down parsing.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of organizing? ›

Organizing a company in this way has inherent advantages and disadvantages.
  • Advantage: Specialization. ...
  • Advantage: Operational Speed. ...
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  • Disadvantage: Segregation. ...
  • Disadvantage: Weakening of Common Bonds. ...
  • Disadvantage: Lack of Coordination. ...
  • Disadvantage: Territorial Disputes.

What are two advantages of planning? ›

Planning facilitates existence of certain planned goals and standard of performance. It provides basis of controlling. We cannot think of an effective system of controlling without existence of well thought out plans. Planning provides pre-determined goals against which actual performance is compared.

What are the advantages or importance of planning? ›

By stating in advance how work is to be done, planning provides direction for action. Planning ensures that goals and objectives are clearly defined so that, they act as a guide for deciding what action should be taken and in which direction.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the doctrine of judicial precedent? ›

The doctrine of precedent saves time, this is because the law can be found in important cases which set precedent, and that such decisions are likely to be found in the decisions of the senior courts in the hierarchy. There are a number of disadvantages and these include the assertion that the system is too rigid.

What is a precedent easy definition? ›

A precedent is something that precedes, or comes before. The Supreme Court relies on precedents—that is, earlier laws or decisions that provide some example or rule to guide them in the case they're actually deciding.

What is precedent in law quizlet? ›

Precedent is a legal principle developed by the courts and refers to the decisions made that will serve for the future. Precedents made in higher courts are followed by lower courts in the same hierarchy. Precedent is based on the principle known as the 'stare decisis' this means to stand by what has been decided.

What are the main rules of precedent? ›

The 'doctrine of precedent' is the rule that a legal principle that has been established by a superior court should be followed in other similar cases by that court and other courts.

What are the 3 types of precedent? ›

Stare Decisis
  • Binding precedent. Precedent that a court must abide by in its adjudication of a case. ...
  • Persuasive precedent. Precedent that a court may, but is not required to, rely on in deciding a case.

What are the rules of precedent? ›

According to the doctrine of precedent a court is bound by the decisions of a court above it and, usually, by a court of equivalent standing. Superior courts have the power to overrule decisions of lower courts and in certain cases to overrule their own decisions.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of binding judicial precedent? ›

The advantage of the doctrine of precedent is that it provides certainty and predictability. The disadvantage, however, is that stare decisis can result in a lack of flexibility and an inability of the common law to adapt to changing moral, socio- economic, and political realities resulting in a static body of law.

What are the major advantages and disadvantages of term policy? ›

Pros and Cons of Term Insurance plans:
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Cost-effectiveNo return on investment
Buying is simple and easyNo financial Assistance while you are alive
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What are the advantages of pros and cons? ›

Weighing up pros and cons can speed up the decision-making process, improve your understanding of the situation, and help you avoid decision-making paralysis . Using a simple "pros" and "cons" list encourages you to approach your decision objectively, without letting your "gut feeling" impact your choice.

Which is advantage pros or cons? ›

To answer this question advantages are the positives and disadvantages are the negatives. Pros are positive since cons define negative.

Is pros an advantage or disadvantage? ›

an advantage to or a reason for doing something: One of the big pros of living in Madrid is the night life. You have to weigh all the pros and cons of the matter before you make a decision. That's one of the pros of working here.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of judicial precedent? ›

They can not make a decision unless there is a case before the courts to be decided.

What is precedent in law? ›

2014) (defining precedent as a decided case that furnishes a basis for determining later cases involving similar facts or issues ). The Court may also rely on commentary on these cases by academics and judges.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of term assurance? ›

Term Insurance has some advantages like affordability, different riders, tax benefits, Payout, etc. Disadvantages of Term Insurance are surrender value, Premiums differ based on age, etc. You choose nothing but the best for your family, and to do so, you need to have complete knowledge.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of life cover? ›

The main advantage of owning a life insurance policy: If you die, your beneficiaries. receive a payout called a death benefit that replaces any income you provided while you were alive. The biggest disadvantage: You have to pay monthly or annual premiums for this benefit.

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