INTRODUCTION
Today, I will talk about a very important
principle of law, the principle of stare decisis. I will discuss the
same with a jurisprudential perspective to provide conceptual clarity in
relation to the doctrine of stare decisis.
MEANING
Stare decisis is a Latin term that
literally means “to stand by things decided.” Essentially, it is a
“doctrine of precedent, under which it is necessary for a court to follow
earlier judicial decisions when the same points arise again in litigation.”
It is often said that “a case is only
authority for what it actually decides,” but “when a point or
principle of law has been once officially decided or settled by the ruling of a
competent court in a case in which it is directly and necessarily involved, it
will no longer be considered as open to examination…. unless it be for urgent
reasons and in exceptional cases.”
IMPORTANCE
It is pertinent to note that “the principle
of stare decisis applies with special force to the construction of
constitutions, and an interpretation once deliberately put upon the provisions
of such an instrument should not be departed from without grave reasons.”
The importance of the principle of stare
decisis is that it provides stability, permanence and certainty to the
construction and interpretation placed by the judiciary in relation to various
laws. When meaning of legal provisions has been freed from doubt by way of a
judicial decision, then such authoritative interpretation ought to be adhered
to.
As most of you would be knowing that there are two
parts of any judicial pronouncement, ratio decidendi which is the binding
principle of law on which a decision is based, and obiter dictum which
is the portion of the judgment that is not binding and may contain observations
that are not relevant to the case.
WORD OF CAUTION AND ENDING REMARKS
Further, the principle of stare decisis is
a sub-set of the Doctrine of Precedent. Though the principle of stare
decisis is important, yet the judges must be meticulous in ascertaining that
whether a previous judicial ruling is applicable to facts of a particular case
or not. Rigid adherence to this principle may lead to injustice and as I had
quoted that “a case is only authority for what it actually decides”
must not be forgotten. These legal doctrines are meant to be aids to
interpretation. Fulfilling the dictum of these maxims and legal doctrines can
never be an end in itself. What is most important is the development of law. If
by applying the principle of stare decisis, a judge feels that rather
than developing the law, it would lead to a regressive approach, the judge must
take recourse to other principles of interpretation and apply his mind to the peculiar
facts and circumstances of the case at hand.
Countless number of pages could be written on the
Doctrine of Stare Decisis, but the purpose of the present post is to
simply briefly introduce the concept to the audience. Thus, I hope that the basic
meaning of the Doctrine of Stare Decisis is clear by now.
Books Referred to:
1. Black’s Law Dictionary, Eighth Edition.
2. Handbook on the Construction and Interpretation
of the Laws, Henry Campbell Black, Second Edition.
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