... Court requires precedent to make his judgement, he or she will use previous decisions from the ECJ, the House of Lords, the Court of Appeal, or another High Court. He or she will not use previous decisions from Magistrates Court, Crown Court or County Court. The hierarchy of the courts is as follows. * The European Court of Justice (ECJ), is bound unto itself and can overrule all other English courts * The House of Lords, is the highest British court, all other British courts must follow it's decisions * Privy Council * High Court, only County Court follows it's decisions * Crown Court, only Magistrates Court follows it's decisions * Magistrates Court, decisions are not followed by any court. The judgements in case law are are always split between two elements, the 'Obiter Dicta' and the 'Ratio Decidendi' The ratio decidendi is, in English, the reason for deciding. It is part of binding precedent within case law. ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now