CALL THE ATTENTION OF THE PUBLIC TO AN EVIL: THE CASE OF THE BATTERED WIFE. THE DOCTRINE OF THE JUDICIAL PRECEDENT IN ENGLISH COURTS
CALL THE ATTENTION OF THE PUBLIC TO AN EVIL: THE CASE OF THE BATTERED WIFE. THE DOCTRINE OF THE JUDICIAL PRECEDENT IN ENGLISH COURTS

Summary/Abstract: The precedential authority, be it vertical or horizontal, must be respected as a norm to guarantee stability, fairness, and predictability of the law and the way it is perceived by the general public. Rupert Cross explains the precedent in terms of binding: “a court is bound to follow any case decided by a court above it and appellate courts (other than the House of Lords) are bound by their previous decisions”2. This very definition and its consequential approach was cited in the case of Willers v Gubay, the precedent being acknowledged as “fundamental” to maintaining “coherence, clarity and predictability”3 meant to avoid anarchy. Duxbury describes the procedure of following the precedent as establishing “an analogy between one instance and another”4 because decision-making seems to be a kind of analogical reasoning. At the same time, the act of following the precedent is perceived as a retrospective-looking gesture which can develop a “consequential”, rather “historical dimension”.

• Details
• Contents