- pre-1066 there was different laws for different parts of the country there was no central government.
- 1066. William the conquer took up the throne he centralized the government and standardized the law
- he sent out the kings representatives to different county's to check local administration
- when they returned to westminster they discussed different customs and it seemed rational to form a consistent body of rules.
- the principle of stare decisis grew, whenever a decision came to be decided , the decision formed a rule to be followed in all similar cases. this made the law predictable and by 1250 the result was it had produced a common law that was followed by the whole country.
- common law has been used to create case law.
- the basic principle of stare decisis a hierarchy of precedent grew in line with the hierarchy of modern court system. a judge must follow decisions made in courts which are higher up the hierarchy than his or her own.
- the operation of precedent is reliant upon the existence of an extensive reporting service to provide access to previous judicial decision
- law reporting dates back to 1865 when the council for law reporting was established
- reason for deciding
- 1) establishing the facts
- 2) applying the facts to the law
- following the principle of stare decisis is more fairer than allowing each judge to interpret the law differently and also predictability which makes easier…