Year: 1886
Type: article
Abstract: THERuLE.-The policy of the courts, and the principle upon which rests the authority of judicial decisions as precedents in subsequent litigations, is embodied in the maxim, Stare decisis et non quieta mnovere-to abide by the precedents and not to 'disturb settled points.Its meaning is, that when a point of law has been once solemnly and necessarily settled by the decision of a competent court, it will no longer be considered open to examination, or to a new ruling, by the same tribunal or those which are bound to follow its adjudications.The reasons which underlie this rule are stated by Chancellor KENT, in a much quoted passage from the Commentaries, as follows: "A solemn decision upon a point of law, arising in any given case, becomes an authority in a like case, because it is the highest evidence which we can have of the law applicable to the subject, and the judges are bound to follow that decision so long as it stands unreversed, unless it can be shown that the law was misunderstood or misapplied in that particular case.If a decision has been made upon solemn argument and mature deliberation, the presumption is in favor of its correctness; and the community have a right to regard it as a just declaration or exposition of the law, and to regulate their actions and contracts by it.It would, therefore, be extremely inconvenient to the public, if precedents were not duly regarded and implicitly followed.It is by the notoriety and stability of such rules that professional men can give safe advice to those who consult them; VOL.XXXIV.-94(745)
DOI: 10.2307/3304831
Author: H. Campbell Black
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W852280541