ABSTRACT
Law depends completely on the process of deductive logic. When judges make decisions in cases they have to do so on the basis of legal reasoning. They cannot simply make their own minds up on what they want to decide, they must have a reason based on law. This can come from law found in statutes (Acts of Parliament) or it can come from a principle of law found in decided cases. This is the so-called ratio decidendi of a case, which simply means the reason for the decision.
Wherever the law comes from the process in court is the same:
