Obiter dictum: Difference between revisions

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A statement tossed off, as it were, by a court ''en route'' to a different a legal determination. A chance remark; a passing observation; a ''bon mot'' not entirely on point to the matter at hand but which, while not strictly binding on subsequently convened lower courts, may make them swoon with admiration all the same.
An [[obiter dictum]] is literally a “statement made in passing”; tossed off, as it were, by a court ''en route'' to a different a legal determination (a “[[ratio decidendi]]”).  
 
A chance remark; a passing observation; a ''bon mot'' not entirely on point to the matter at hand but which, if not strictly [[precedent|binding]] on a subsequently convened lower court, is apt to make it swoon with admiration all the same.


{{c|Latin}}
{{c|Latin}}

Revision as of 09:45, 12 October 2016

An obiter dictum is literally a “statement made in passing”; tossed off, as it were, by a court en route to a different a legal determination (a “ratio decidendi”).

A chance remark; a passing observation; a bon mot not entirely on point to the matter at hand but which, if not strictly binding on a subsequently convened lower court, is apt to make it swoon with admiration all the same.