... were recorded frequently and accurately, especially the judgements which were recorded word for word. This aloud judges to follow precedent with much greater ease. Case reports are held in the All England Series (ALL ER) and Weekly Law Reports (WLR). LEXIS, the law database for retrieval of case details is also an important resource as it holds over 150,000 cases. 'All England' law reports are assessable through LEXIS. The English system of precedent is based on the Latin term 'stare decisis', which means to standby what has been decided. Therefore following precedent is essential if common law is to be fair and consistent. The most important section of the case to be recorded is the judgement of the case, which includes the 'ratio decidendi' and the 'obiter dicta'. The 'ratio decidendi' is the actual reason for the judges decision. The judge will explain the principles of the law being used to ...

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