LAWS 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Judicial Independence, Continental System, Family Law
Document Summary
Morton"s two main functions: (cid:862) easo(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:271)(cid:455) e(cid:454)a(cid:373)ple(cid:863) balancing innovation and continuity and certainty. Atiyah- doctrine of precedent: multiple reasons, multiple judges. Higher courts bind lower courts, and the highest court no longer is bound by its own decisions. *la(cid:449) does(cid:374)(cid:859)t (cid:272)ha(cid:374)ge o(cid:374) a di(cid:373)e. p(cid:396)e(cid:272)ede(cid:374)ts (cid:272)ha(cid:374)ge (cid:449)he(cid:374) the (cid:272)ou(cid:396)t (cid:271)egi(cid:374)s to shift o(cid:448)e(cid:396) a se(cid:396)ies of cases. It is a cluster of decisions which change a precedent, not a single case. La(cid:449) (cid:449)ishes to ha(cid:448)e a (cid:862)fo(cid:396)(cid:373)al e(cid:454)iste(cid:374)(cid:272)e(cid:863), (cid:374)ot depe(cid:374)de(cid:374)t o(cid:396) supe(cid:396)io(cid:396)it(cid:455). It (cid:373)ust (cid:272)a(cid:396)(cid:448)e itself from morality and interpretation. Precision and clarity can guard against interpretation [stays out of politics and maintains judicial independence] Critiques: law as stale, immoral, valueless [humanistic, law is already informed by the things it says it includes [radical] Fish argues the split between inside/outside an dtext/context is a trick that only serves to stabilize law and judicial authority.
