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1、EvaluatetheAdvantagesandDisadvantagesoftheDoctrineofPrecedentinEnglishLawThedoctrineofprecedentisthebackboneoftheEnglishlegalsystem.Precedentisdefinedas“Ajudgementordecisionofacourtcitedasanauthorityfordecidingasimilarsetoffacts;acasewhichservesasanauthorityforthelegalprincipleembodiedinitsdecisi
2、on.”MickWoodley,Osborn’sConciseLawDictionary,London,Sweet&Maxwell2009,EleventhEdition,p.317Bindingprecedentsareknownas“staredecisis”.WithinthehierarchicalstructureoftheEnglishcourtsystem,adecisiongivenbyacourtinthehigherhierarchyshouldbindanylowerhierarchicalcourt.However,judgmentsgivenbyalowerhi
3、erarchicalcourtwillnotbindthehigherlevelcourts.Generally,boththeSupremeCourtandtheCourtofAppealconsiderthemselvesboundbytheirownpreviousprecedents.Onlyinveryrarecircumstancessuchas“perincuriam”couldtheydepartfromtheirpreviousdecisionsbydistinguishingthecasesoroverrulingthepreviousprinciples.Itsee
4、msthat,whenlookingbacktothehistory,thedoctrineofprecedentwasnotappliedinthiscountryasstrictasitistoday.In1869,ajudgeofthefirstinstancewouldhavenocompunctionifheconsideredthatthedecisiongivenbytheLordChancellorhearingChanceryappealswasclearlymistakenthereforehemustdeclinetofollowthe12precedentfort
5、hecaseinfrontofhimatpresent.SeeCollinsv.Lewis,LR8Eq.708)TherulethattheHouseofLords(nowtheSupremeCourt)shouldbeself-boundbyitspastdecisionswasnotcompletelysettleduntilthelate19thcentury.SeeBeamishvBeamish[1861]9HLCases274TherulethattheCourtofAppealisself-boundbyitspastdecisionswasalsoafreshcreatur
6、eofthe20thcentury.SeeYoungvBristolAeroplaneCO.Ltd[1944]KB718,[1944]2AllER293Also,itwasonlyfromthe20thcenturythattheDivisionalCourtshavecometoapplytheprincipleof“staredecisis”totheirownpastdecisionsinitsfullrigour.RupertCrossandJ.WHarris,PrecedentinEnglishlaw,ClarendonPress,Oxford1991,FourthEditio
7、n,ChapterOne(8),HistoryoftheEnglishdoctrineofprecedentNeverinhistorydidsupportersandcriticsstopdebatingthelegitimacyofthedoctrineofprecedent.Thereareconsiderabledebatesaboutthemeritsanddemeritsofthisdoctrine.Theaimofth
