... is used appropriately. These two principles go together to structure the doctrine of Stare Decisis. This is translated literally as, "standing by your decisions". This in effect implies that courts are bound in two manners. Firstly Higher Courts Bind lower Courts, and like cases are decided alike. This ensures that the highest court of the hierarchy has the authority to set precedent for other courts to follow, and that these courts decide their cases on others, in order to ensure accuracy and fairness. The general practice on judging cases on similar predecessors is as follows. The lawyers on each side of the argument try to find similar cases that have come before courts in the past. They then try to persuade the court to choose between the relevant lines of authority in order to gain their client a victory. The judge then has to decide which case presented is the more closely ...

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