Is Judicial Precedent an efficient System of Lawmaking
Is Judicial Precedent an efficient System of Lawmaking? Judicial precedent often referred to as case law, is one of the main sources of English law. ... In order for the judicial precedent system to work, an accurate detailed method of reporting cases is of great importance. ... This is called the ratio decidendi and means reason for deciding this is the part that creates binding precedent. ... I feel that the efficiency of the system would be improved if the two parts of the speech were clearly defined. As stated the judicial precedent system relies heavily on an accurate system of law reporting. ... The system is also dependent on the strict hierarchy of the courts, which to a certain extent ensure that the most important decisions are made by the most experienced judges. However, the system is very ridged, and very often a precedent is in place that is completely out of date and therefore, not really of any use in todays society. ... There are several ways that a judge is able to avoid using an existing precedent, which helps give some flexibility to the system. The one that all judges are able to use is distinguishing; a judge is able to use differences between the facts of his case, to those of the case, which made the precedent, in order to avoid having to be bound by it. ... Whilst a judge may himself believe that a past precedent is not good law in todays modern society and wishes to avoid using it in the case he is sitting on, he may, in order to do this, distinguish on a very small point which may appear illogical.