Stare decisis meaning

Where a UK court or tribunal is confronted with an issue engaging a Convention right, it must take into account any judgment or decision of the European Court of Human Rights. In reality, the prevailing judicial approach has been to regard final decisions of the Strasbourg Court as effectively binding unless there is a sound reason to depart. This Practice Note accordingly summarises the core principles governing the standing of Strasbourg jurisprudence in the UK courts. Background to HRA 1998, s 2 The UK was the first state to ratify the European Convention on Human Rights in March 1951. Until the Human Rights Act 1998, however, the Convention was not part of domestic law, so UK courts lacked authority to give effect to Convention rights (see: R v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Brind). Even so, courts paid regard to Strasbourg rulings prior to the HRA 1998 (see: Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspapers). The purpose of the HRA 1998 was to enable UK...

Precedent at common law Observance of precedent is a crucial feature of common law adjudication. When a precedent is binding, later courts should, in the ordinary course, follow and respect it. The binding effect operates in two ways: Vertical stare decisis: Decisions of higher courts must be honoured by courts below. In Cassell & Co Ltd v Broome, the Lord Chancellor underlined that, within this country’s court hierarchy, each lower tier must loyally accept the rulings of the higher tiers. In Willers v Joyce (No 2), Lord Neuberger explained that, in a common law system where judges make the law in some areas and develop it in virtually all, the doctrine of precedent (stare decisis) is fundamental; determinations of law by more senior courts have to be accepted by more junior courts, otherwise the law becomes anarchic and forfeits coherence, clarity and predictability. Horizontal stare decisis: Courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction should, as a general rule, follow one another’s decisions. This means, for ...