Obiter dictum: Difference between revisions
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{{g}}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]]”). | {{g}}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]]”) about something else. | ||
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. | 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. | ||
Perhaps the most famous [[obiter dictum]] of all times was that made by a young High Court judge sitting in the [[King’s Bench Division]] by the name of Denning, {{casenote|Central London Property Trust Ltd|High Trees House Ltd}}, which gave rise to the modern law of [[promissory estoppel]]. | Perhaps the most famous [[obiter dictum]] of all times was that made by a young High Court judge sitting in the [[King’s Bench Division]] by the name of Denning, {{casenote|Central London Property Trust Ltd|High Trees House Ltd}}, which gave rise to the modern law of [[promissory estoppel]]. | ||
Revision as of 11:51, 12 October 2020
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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”) about something else.
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.
Perhaps the most famous obiter dictum of all times was that made by a young High Court judge sitting in the King’s Bench Division by the name of Denning, Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd, which gave rise to the modern law of promissory estoppel.