David Lock examines Human Rights Act claims & the doctrine of precedent
Every law student learns how the theory of precedent works in practice. Statute law has supreme authority, but after that the House of Lords, or now the Supreme Court, binds the Court of Appeal; the Court of Appeal binds the High Court.
Precedent is ageless. It does not matter how long ago the Court of Appeal pronounced on a matter; no High Court judge can overturn that decision until it is distinguished by another Court of Appeal or overturned by the Supreme Court. But what happens if a lower court has to wrestle with a Human Rights Act 1998 point which has not been raised in previous cases?
Public bodies
The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) s 6 provides that all public bodies are required to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention). Judges are public bodies for these purposes. Hence judges are required by an Act of Parliament to produce judgments which comply with the Convention. If there is a conflict, which way should a judge turn if
