Describe the Power of the Court of Appeal to Overrule Its Own Previous Decisions

1208 Words5 Pages
The Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English legal system, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it. The Court of Appeal hears both criminal and civil appeals. It consists of two divisions, the Criminal Division and the Civil Division and has a staff of 38 Lord Justices of Appeal who hear the appeals. The Criminal Division hears criminal appeals from the Crown Court and is led by the Lord Chief Justice. The Civil Division hears civil appears from the three divisions of the High Court (Chancery, Queen's Bench and Family Division), County Courts and certain tribunals and is led by the Master of the Rolls. Permission to appeal is required from either the lower court or the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal also has the power to consider referrals the Attorney General on points of law and unduly lenient sentences. The decisions of the Court of appeal can be appealed to the Supreme Court. The decisions of the Divisions of the Court of Appeal do not form a binding precedent on each other. The decision of each Division only persuades the other such as in the cases of R v Ireland and R v Burstow 1998 and Re A (conjoined twins (2001). Both Divisions are generally bound by its past decisions by the doctrine of stare decisis. The case of Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd 1944 emphasised the points above, as well as establishing three exceptions in which the Divisions are not bound by their previous decisions, these are: * Where there are conflicting decisions in the past, the Court of Appeal can choose which one it will follow and which one it will ignore. The one they follow will then become the binding precedent as in Tiverton Estates Ltd v Wearwell Ltd 1974 avoiding Law v Jones 1974. * Where there is a decision of the House of Lords/Supreme Court which overrules a Court of Appeals decision, the Court of Appeal must follow the
Open Document