Judicial decisions as authorities

1. The decisions of the House of Lords upon questions of ________ are normally considered by the House to be _________upon itself, but because too rigid adherence to __________ may lead to __________ in a particular ___ and unduly restrict the proper ____________ of the law the House will depart from a previous __________ when it appears right to do so, although it bears in mind the danger of disturbing retrospectively the basis upon which contracts, property ___________ and fiscal arrangements have been ______________and the especial need for certainty as to the _________law.

2. When a broad ________ has been clearly decided by the ________, the decision should not be weakened or frittered away by fine distinctions, and an erroneous _________ of the House upon a __________ of law can be set right only by Act of ___________.

3. A decision of the House of Lords occasioned by __________ of the House being equally divided is as ________ on the House and on all inferior _________ as if it had been _________.

4. Decisions of the House of Lords are binding on every court ________ to it.

5. The decisions of the __________ upon questions of law must be followed by Divisional Courts and courts of ___________, and, as a general _____, are binding on the Court of Appeal until a contrary __________ has been arrived at by the House of Lords.

6. There are, however, three, and only three, exceptions to this rule; thus (1) the Court of Appeal is _________ and bound to decide which of two __________ decisions of its own it will follow; (2) it is ________ to refuse to follow a decision of its own which, although not expressly _____, cannot, in its opinion, stand with a decision of the House of Lords; and (3) the Court of Appeal is not ______ to follow a decision of its own if given __________.

7. Unlike the House of Lords, the Court of Appeal does not have liberty to ________ its own earlier decisions.

8. A decision is given per incuriam when the _______ has acted __________ of a ____________of its own or of a court of ____________ which covered the case before it, in which case it must decide which case to _________; or when it has acted in ignorance of a House of Lords decision, in which case it must follow that decision; or when the decision is given in ignorance of the terms of a__________ or rule having statutory ________.

9. In its _______________ the Court of Appeal applies the same principles as on the _________, but _________ that there are exceptions (a) where the _______ is in prison and in the full _____________ wrongly so; (b) where the court thinks that the law was ___________ or misapplied; and (c) where the full court is carrying out its _______ to lay down princi­ples and guidelines in relation to __________.

10. A Divisional Court is bound by its own previous decisions, regardless of how many ________ are sitting, with limited exceptions in __________, subject always to the per incuriam ______. Faced with ________ earlier decisions the court is _____ to decide which to follow.

11. Divisional Court decisions bind _______ of first instance, even of a different division, but not the Employment Appeal __________.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-08