Pros of precedent

• What are the Pros of Precedent

  Gives certainty to the law

  Precedent promotes justice and consistency

  There is sufficient flexibility

  Precedent saves time

  Precedent allows Gaps in the law to be filled
• The doctrine means judges follow past decisions, meaning people know what the law is in any given area and know how it is likely to be applied in their case. This then allows lawyers to predict the outcome of cases, which is essential to clients in both civil and criminal cases. In civil cases, this can impact of whether someone pursues a claim or not, and in criminal cases it can affect a persons plea. Certainty in the law is also important to businesses, it allows people to run their business knowing that the arraignments they make are recognised by law.
• Precedent promotes justice & consistency bytreating similar cases in a similar way in order forthe law to be credible it must be consistent in itsapplication to cases. It is seen as fair and just that ifthe facts of cases are sufficiently similar, theyshould be decided in a similar way.
• There's enough flexibility in precedent to allow for the development of law as society changes. The Supreme Court can use the Practice Statement to overrule their own previousdecisions, if those decisions do not reflect current trends within society. Law has been in cases such as R v Burstow in which it was decided that gbh can include serious psychological harm.
• The doctrine of precedent allows for time saving.When a principle has been established, it can beseen through the whole system of law reporting.This allows lawyers to save time and advise theirclients that a case with similar facts or principles oflaw to a precedent is unlikely to be worth takingthrough the lengthy and costly process of litigation
• Precedent allows the courts to fill the gaps toensure law is not at a standstill where there is nostatute law on a topic.