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What Is the Ratio Decidendi of a Case and What Factors Need to Be Taken into Account in Ascertaining the Ratio of a Decision?

Autor:   •  January 15, 2019  •  1,437 Words (6 Pages)  •  572 Views

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Cross noted that dissenting judgments are also relevant when it comes to ascertaining the ratio of a decision. While it may be appealing to disregard these judgments, a dissent may be based on a different interpretation of the evidence in a case, or a disparate evaluation of legal issues which the case presents. The People (DPP) v Walsh concerned the legality of the appellant’s detention in a Garda station. Walsh J held that the appellant was not being detained unlawfully when his fingerprints were taken and the trial judge had acted correctly in allowing such evidence at his trial.[23] Despite this being a sole dissenting view, Walsh J’s statement of the law is considered to be authoritative, and was applied by Finlay CJ in The People (DPP) v Kenny.[24]

The manner in which the later court treats the matter before it is critical in determining the ratio decidendi of the earlier case. O’Donnell J in Pringle v Government of Ireland held ‘A single sentence in a judgment (…) is not to be taken, in isolation, as stating the ratio decidendi of a case. There is always danger of substituting the invocation of a vivid and memorable phrase for the analysis of the substance of a judgment.’[25] When relying on earlier jurisprudence courts must exercise caution in determining what constitutes the ratio.

Conclusion:

While there may be no textbook definition of the term it is submitted that the ratio decidendi is the principle upon which a decision is founded. Similarly, there is no rigid method of determining the ratio of a decision although as outlined above there are a number of factors that are frequently taken into consideration.

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Bibliography

Books

Byrne R and McCutcheon P, The Irish Legal System (6th edn, first published 1986, Bloomsbury Professional 2014)

Farrar J and Dugdale A, Introduction to Legal Method (3rd edn, first published 1977, Sweet & Maxwell 1990)

Salmond J, Jurisprudence (1st edn, first published 1907, Sweet & Maxwell 1924)

Williams J, Learning the Law (13th edn, first published 1945, Sweet & Maxwell 2006)

Journal articles

Goodhart AL, ‘The Ratio Decidendi of a Case’ [1959] 22 MLR

Goodhart AL, ‘Determining the ratio decidendi of a case’ [1930] 40 YLR

Montrose JL, ‘The Ratio Decidendi of a Case’ [1957] 20 MLR

Simpson AWB, ‘The Ratio Decidendi of a Case’ [1957] 20 MLR

Stone J, ‘The ratio of the ratio decidendi’ [1959] 20 MLR

Online resources

Verma S, ‘Jurisprudence notes – ratio decidedendi, http://www.desikanoon.co.in/2014/05/jurisprudence-notes-ratio-decidendi.html

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