Significance Of Precedent: A Study On Circumstances Destroying Binding Force Of Precedent

PNS Reddy Vinay, BBA LLB, Alliance University, Bengaluru

ABSTRACT

The lawyers feel that another important aspect of judgment is the legal principle of "stare decisis" which is guided by it and plays a pivotal role in the development and application of law guaranteeing consistency, predictability and fairness within a judicial system. This research paper deals with the essence of legal precedents, covering their fundamental role which lies in the basis of order and fairness, and at the same time presenting the issues that challenge the authority of such rights.

While precedent helps provide a reliable frame of reference for the adjudication of legal cases, it sometimes gets taken for granted to the point of being put under scrutiny due to changes in societal norms and values. When society is changing the rules that are obsolete, are liable to be challenged and as a result that there is a gradual process of their break down. Besides that, the next wave of judges coming on the bench is an addition of new point views and interpretations which might be different from previous ones hence causing the fall of the old and the rise of the new precedents, leading to the question of about their consistency.

The contribution of legal philosophy brings more confusion to distinguishing the role of precedent. The difference of doctrinal approaches like originalism and living constitutionalism shapes the peculiar judicial interpretations. The alteration of jurisprudence of the legal system can make the outcomes of precedents irrelevant, as judges can easily disregard traditional doctrines for customs and idea of the present. Besides that, the process of overruling and distinguishing precedents makes the construction of law principles an extremely complicated job. Despite the explicit contradiction of previous choices by an overruling, distinction based on unique features of the cases allow creative legal interpretations though the issue of law legitimacy may be questionable.

This research paper endeavors to unravel the complicated essence of judicial precedent while highlighting its social significance amidst mere written rules. Such dialectics helps to discover principles' twists, turns, and the jurisprudence work of lawyers on which legal principle landscape creation depends. In the long run, the deep comprehension of legal precedence necessitates an in-depth approach that take in consideration both the traditional path and innovation using the case base to reflect the dynamic changes in the society and philosophical perspectives of the law. This study seeks to establish the legal dynamics behind the competing concepts of convention and innovation in the fraternity of legal practitioners across the globe and also provide perspectives on the issues of how these concepts challenge and open new opportunities in law and its future.