ratio decidendi


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Ratio Decidendi

[Latin, The ground or reason of decision.] The legal principle upon which the decision in a specific case is founded.

The ratio decidendi is also known as the rationale for a decision.

See: authority, documentation

ratio decidendi

‘the rule in a decision’. This is a crucial part of the understanding of the way in which the common law works. Once a system has been adopted of binding PRECEDENT, it has to be discovered what it is in the previous decision that binds the court later in time. While it is sometimes possible to peruse the opinion of the judge to find the rule, this is not by any means a reliable way of discovering the rule in the case. The soundest general method is to discover the material facts of the case, determine what the decision was and then to draw the proposition that most closely marries the material facts to the actual decision. It is difficult enough to do this with a single opinion but very much harder with multiple opinions such as come from the Court of Appeal, the Inner House and the House of Lords. Sometimes it is said to be impossible to form a ratio of general application. Anything that is said that is not part of the ratio is said to be an OBITER DICTUM.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Law students had difficulty deciphering the ratio decidendi that is often buried in kilometric sentences.
Writing simply and concisely
Each chapter explains the purpose of a specific article in the Code, traces the original regulations and directives consolidated in that article, identifies relevant provisions in the revised Kyoto Convention, and surveys the ratio decidendi of all Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judgements dealing with the article.
European Union Customs Code
En resumen, para seguir (24) (crear (25)) el "precedente" es necesario hacer la distincion entre la ratio decidendi y el obiter dictum.
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It has been said that the decision is wrong, that it was driven by political motives and that the comments about the rights of the user are obiter dicta (not a legally binding precedent) rather than the decision's ratio decidendi (the case's core legal principle).
The criteria on property and the Demopoulos bugbear
In view of the acceptance of the above judgment, it is directed that the ratio decidendi ( or the reasoning) of the judgment must be adhered to by the field officers in all cases here this issue is involved," the letter states using a Latin phrase denoting the rationale behind the ruling.
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In view of the acceptance of the above judgement, it is directed that the ratio decidendi of the judgement must be adhered to by the field officers in all cases here this issue is involved," said the letter from the finance ministry, using a Latin phrase denoting the rationale behind the ruling.
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Our aim is to comment on what rule now properly applies to subsection 15(1), but the near-simultaneous decision on ratio decidendi quite frankly complicates what rule one extracts from the equality rights case.
Equality rights, ratio identification, and the un/predictable judicial path not taken: Quebec (Attorney General) v. A. and R. v. Ibanescu
CONTENTS I Introduction II Collective Irrationality A Meaning of 'Collective Irrationality' B Illustration of Collective Irrationality C Avoiding Collective Irrationality D A Dilemma III Doctrine of Precedent A Ignoring Unnecessary Reasoning B Ignoring Dissenting Opinions C No Ratio Decidendi IV Conclusion [W]here the Court, although coming to a firm conclusion in its curial order, does so upon different grounds .
Collective irrationality and the doctrine of precedent
i) La ratio decidendi de la sentencia que se evalua como precedente, presenta una regla judicial relacionada con el caso a resolver posteriormente; (ii) se trata de un problema juridico semejante, o a una cuestion constitucional semejante y (iii) los hechos del caso o las normas juzgadas en la sentencia son semejantes o plantean un punto de derecho semejante al que se debe resolver posteriormente.
El juez y el precedente: hacia una reinterpretacion de la separacion de poderes
E o juiz do caso posterior o responsavel pela criacao do precedente, uma vez que ao apreciar os fatos de seu caso observara se a ratio decidendi daquele anterior podera ser aplicada ao sucessivo.
O sistema de precedentes no novo codigo de processo civil e suas possiveis repercussoes no dialogo do poder judiciario com os demais poderes
There is, to be sure, a formalist version of the doctrine that is rooted in the idea of the ratio decidendi (94): the holding of a case is the rule that is logically implied by the stated reasons necessary to the resolution of the case on the facts before the appellate court and the legal arguments presented by the parties.
How NFIB V. Sebelius affects the constitutional gestalt
45) Al respecto la T-388 de 2009 que afirma que "igualmente le esta vedado a cualquier [autoridad judicial] acordarle una interpretacion distinta a la norma legal que ha sido sometida al control de la Corte, siendo vinculante en estos casos tanto el decisum como la ratio decidendi.
La tipicidad en el derecho administrativo sancionador

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