Suchergebnisse

In 1950 the late J. Drion began his inaugural lecture as professor in the Law Faculty of Leyden University by quoting a well-known English saying: "When a doctor makes a mistake, he buries it; when a judge makes a mistake, it becomes the law of the land" as an introduction to a learned exposition on the fundamental rule of English law: stare decisis et quieta non movere. According to this rule British courts are, as a matter of principle, bound by decisions on points of law, laid down in the judgments of the superior courts, the House of Lords, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the Court of Appeal. Until 1966 the House of Lords was even bound by its own precedents, as still is the Court of Appeal. The House of Lords can overrule the Court of Appeal and it may, by a single decision, be presumed to bind future Courts of Appeal. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which is not strictly a judicial body is not bound by its own judgments and does not in theory bind British courts, but the fact that it is manned largely by Law Lords makes its opinions of very great value as precedents.