ABSTRACT
The underlying rationale and principle of precedent is straightforward – that cases which raise similar or identical legal issues should be decided in a similar way. The 1966 statement made reference to the fundamental value of precedent to developing legal certainty and providing ‘at least some degree of certainty’ for individuals. The lowest court which creates a precedent potentially binding is the High Court and its Divisional Courts. The High Court is bound by courts superior to it in the hierarchy, i.e. the Supreme Court, the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal, but is not bound by its own previous decisions. One court which is a well-known exception to the doctrine of precedent in certain circumstances is the Family Court. The material facts are those that give rise to the question of principle that the court must resolve in order to settle a case.
