Explain the different types of judicial precedent.

Firstly, the doctrine of judicial precedent simply means the following of a particular decision made on a point of law in a previous case. This following of a previous decision is called stare decisis (to stand by a decision). A judgement may be an original precedent, binding precedent or persuasive precedent. An original precedent is where a judge must come to a decision without following a previous decision, as the facts in the case have not come before a court before. For example, in Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) a duty of care was established between manufacturer and consumer for the first time. A binding precedent is where a future judge in a lower court must follow the decision of a previous judge in a higher court, if the case facts are similar. However there are exceptions, for example, if case facts are different and also the Supreme Court are not strictly bound by their previous decisions. Persuasive precedents are not binding, but they may be statements a previous common law judge has made which can influence a future judge in his own decision. For example, in R v R (1991) the House of Lords overturned marital rape and a case decided by the Scottish High Court of Justiciary was used as part of the reasoning.