Questions tagged [stare-decisis]

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Are judges obliged to obey precedent?

Say that judge Fern was the First to encounter a certain case where Law L could be considered relevant. Fern is more of a judicial activist and believes in an expansive interpretation of the law, so interprets L in a way that's borderline creating…
chausies
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Can courts be expected to proactively research and have regard to relevant case precedents?

It seems that often statutes are binding on courts even if neither party is aware of our calls the court’s attention to them. They will proactively introduce the relevant provisions into the equation of the case and apply them to it to often alter…
TylerDurden
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Can a trial court create precedent?

It has been said that "trial courts do not create precedent." Can a trial court create precedent?
Jen
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Are non-recorded court decisions still binding?

It seems that back in the day one relied on law reporters’ reports to be able to study and cite precedential decisions in future cases. A decision being featured in an edition of a law report enables one to formally cite it in a case, and for a…
TylerDurden
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Why isn’t the county court binding upon itself?

Numerous sources state that the starting point for all common law systems is the cornerstone principle of stare decisis, ie that courts are in similar fact patterns bound to follow previous decisions of their own judicial rank or higher. There are…