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Judicial decision making
This free course, Judicial decision making, explains how judges decide cases. You will learn how judges make sense of evidence, and how they decide on fair outcomes in legal disputes. The course shows how the law constrains and influences judges, and what happens when the law is uncertain or contested. The course uses videos, practical examples, and interactive activities to explain and demonstrate each key idea.
This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course W112 Civil justice and tort law and related to the Open University qualification Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (LLB).
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- explain and distinguish fact-finding, decision-making and reason-giving
- discuss the issue of bias in the common law
- explain stare decisis and differentiate between ratio decidendi and obiter dicta
- recognise that some legal rules are uncertain
- discuss whether judges make law.
First Published: 13/07/2023
Updated: 13/07/2023
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A few potential issues:
1.1 The foundations of equity
Discussion
Very short introductions
https://www.open.ac.uk/libraryservices/resource/database:514249&f=126
Yields: 'Open University Authorisation Denied'
7 Sliding Doors and stare decisis
stare decisis URL
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society-politics-law/law/judicial-decision-making/content-section-8#:~:text=of-,stare%20decisis
Yields: 'Open University Authorisation Denied'
8.2 The judicial hierarchy
Activity 6 Which precedent is binding?
At least one of the answers mentions 'per incuriam', this does not appear to be defined within the course itself?
12 Consolidation quiz – Part 2
2. Why was the creation of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting Important?
"It made a single body responsible for all law reports" is stated as being incorrect, though the other organisations and publishers that also issue law reports (which are widely used in practice) does not appear to have been mentioned in the course? However, my understanding is that since the ICLR reports are the most authoritative they must be cited in preference where available.