LA1102 Synth/Online Tutorial Week 4

‘Case law’

• is law which originates in the parliament

• was never a primary source of major legal rules

• is the law developed by judges

• is law which society votes for

The name of the party who initially brings a civil claim to court is:

• the plaintiff

• the appellant

• the respondent

• the accused

A ‘headnote’:

• is located at the end of a reported court decision

• is located at the beginning of an Act

• is located at the end of an Act

• is located at the beginning of a reported court decision

Which of the following statements is CORRECT (you can select more than one)?

• Precedent refers to cases decided in the past

• Stare decisis refers to the doctrine of binding precedent

• Inferior courts do not need to follow the ratio of superior courts

• Precedent can only be binding in nature

Which of the following is an accepted rule of precedent (you can select more than one)?

• The ratio of a case can form binding precedent

• The obiter of a case automatically forms binding precedent

• Courts are not bound by their own previous decisions

• Decisions from courts in a different hierarchy are not binding

The ratio decidendi of a case:

• may be difficult to determine

• is always clearly indicated by the judge

• can never form binding precedent

• is also called obiter dicta

Which of the following statements is CORRECT (you can select more than one)?

• Each state and territory within Australia has its own court hierarchy

• A court may interpret existing law

• Law-making is a core function of the court

The High Court of Australia makes a decision and the Supreme Court of NSW uses this decision as the basis for its own judgement in a separate case. What is this an example of?

• Legislation

• Alternate dispute resolution

• Precedent

• A non-contentious rule

 What are the four categories of the rationale for the doctrine of stare decisis?

• Affordability, equality, efficiency and justice

• Certainty, affordability, efficiency and the appearance of justice

• Certainty, equality, efficiency and the appearance of effective judicial administration

• Certainty, equality, efficiency and the appearance of justice

Only the ratio decidendi of a case can be binding but the ratio is not always easy to determine. In relation to this, which of the following statements is a reason why this is so?

• The rationes of the case may be stated at a very low level of generality, worded so as to apply only to the facts of that case

• Judges sometimes get ratio and obiter mixed up.

• Judges are too busy to research every applicable case.

• A judge’s personal views are injected into the court judgement.