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: Adnan • 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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