Case law is law developed through decisions made by courts and tribunals. It is also called judicial precedent. In common law systems, earlier decisions can guide or bind later courts when similar legal issues arise.
Case law is especially important in the legal systems of England and Wales, Northern Ireland and many other common law jurisdictions. It works alongside legislation, not instead of it.
Meaning
A judgment may decide the outcome of one dispute, but it can also state a legal rule or principle for later cases. The part of a judgment that forms the legal reason for the decision is often called the ratio decidendi.
Other observations in a judgment may be persuasive but not binding. These are often called obiter dicta.
Binding Precedent
Binding precedent means that a lower court must follow a relevant decision of a higher court in the same legal system. This gives the law consistency and helps people predict how courts are likely to decide similar issues.
In England and Wales, decisions of the Supreme Court bind lower courts. Decisions of the Court of Appeal bind most lower courts. High Court decisions can bind lower courts in some contexts and may be persuasive in others.
Persuasive Authority
Persuasive authority may influence a court without binding it. Examples can include decisions from courts at the same level, lower courts, other UK jurisdictions, Commonwealth courts, the European Court of Human Rights, academic commentary or older authorities.
The strength of persuasive authority depends on the court, subject matter, reasoning and how closely the facts match.
Distinguishing, Overruling and Reversing
Courts do not apply precedent mechanically. A court may distinguish a case where the facts or legal issue are materially different.
Overruling occurs when a higher court decides that an earlier legal rule should no longer be followed. Reversing occurs when a higher court changes the result of the same case on appeal.
The House of Lords Practice Statement 1966 recognised that precedent is important for certainty but that too rigid an approach can cause injustice or restrict the proper development of the law. The UK Supreme Court inherited the power to depart from its own previous case law in appropriate cases.
Law Reports and Neutral Citations
Case law depends on published judgments and reliable law reports. Modern UK judgments often use neutral citations, such as UKSC, EWCA Civ or EWHC references, which identify the court and year independently of a commercial report series.
The National Archives Find Case Law service provides free access to many judgments from England and Wales and UK-wide cases from the Supreme Court and Privy Council. BAILII also provides free access to a large collection of British, Irish and related legal materials.
Examples
Important cases in UK legal history include:
- Donoghue v Stevenson (1932), associated with the modern law of negligence and duty of care.
- Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company (1893), a contract law case about unilateral offers.
- R v R (1991), which removed the marital rape exemption in English criminal law.
- Airedale NHS Trust v Bland (1993), concerning withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.
- R (Miller) v The Prime Minister (2019), concerning prorogation of Parliament.
Examples should be read in their legal context. A famous case can be limited, developed or affected by later legislation or later judgments.
Relationship with Legislation
Legislation is made by Parliament or other law-making bodies. Case law interprets legislation, applies it to facts and develops common law principles where legislation does not cover the whole field.
Where legislation clearly changes the law, courts must apply it. Where wording is uncertain, case law may explain how the statute should be understood.
See Also
References
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