Health and Safety Law 5e ePub eBook, 5th Edition

5 The principal cases

Introduction

The common law is based on cases recorded, in England and Wales, in the Law Reports and All England Reports (AER) and, in Scotland, the Sessions Cases (SC) and Scots Law Times (SLT). It is based on the doctrine of precedent, under which, in the vast majority of cases, a court must follow the earlier decisions of the courts at its own level and of superior courts – known as binding precedent. The doctrine of binding precedent is called stare decisis, which means ‘keep to the decisions of past cases’. Other precedents established are of a persuasive nature, and are not binding. For the doctrine of judicial precedent to operate, it is necessary to know, first, the legal principle involved in a particular judgment ...