Saint Olave's Law Society Journal ; Issue 01 (Autumn 2013) | Page 6

Saint
 Olave’s
 Law
 Society
 Journal

leading
 to
 bad
 decisions
 being
 made.
  This
 is
 particularly
 a
 problem
 if
 a
  bad
 decision
 was
 made
 in
 a
 high
  court
 in
 the
 past,
 which
 then
 has
  binding
 precedent
 on
 future
  decisions
 in
 all
 lower
 courts.
 It
 can
  also
 make
 the
 law
 very
 complex
 and
  confusing,
 with
 thousands
 of
  rationes
 decidendi
 to
 sort
 through,
  and
 many
 different
 decisions
 on
  cases
 that
 differ
 only
 very
 slightly.
  This
 is
 made
 worse
 by
 the
 use
 of
  distinction,
 which
 can
 lead
 to
 hair-­? splitting
 over
 trivial
 points
 of
 law,
  which
 is
 very
 confusing
 to
 judges
  looking
 through
 past
 decisions.
 In
  addition
 to
 all
 this,
 very
 few
 cases
  reach
 the
 Supreme
 Court.
 As
 past
  decisions
 can
 only
 be
 overturned
 by
  a
 new
 case
 coming
 up
 on
 the
 same
  topic,
 it
 can
 take
 years
 before
 some
  decisions
 are
 able
 to
 be
 overturned,
  meaning
 that
 until
 then,
 there
 can
 be
  binding
 precedent
 on
 the
 lower
  courts
 that
 is
 flawed
 or
 outdated,
  which
 leads
 to
 a
 failure
 of
 justice.

  Overall
 therefore,
 the
 use
 of
 judicial
  precedent
 in
 the
 legal
 systems
 of
  England
 and
 Wales
 has
 both
  advantages
 and
 disadvantages,
 and
  is
 very
 different
 to
 most
 modern
  legal
 systems.
 The
 question
 is,
  should
 we
 keep
 this
 time-­?honoured
  system,
 or
 move
 to
 be
 more
 like
 the
  rest
 of
 Europe
 and
 the
 modern
  world?
  REFERENCES

  • J.
 Martin,
 The
 English
 Legal
  System:
 6th
 Edition,
 (Hodder
  Education
 Group,
 2010)

  Issue
 01

 Autumn
 2013

 6