Academic Site & Blog

Part 1- An Analysis of the Impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the Judicial Understanding of Precedent

This series of blog postings analyse the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) on the judicial understanding of precedent. In order to examine whether the underlying features of the doctrine of precedent remain unchanged after the partial incorporation of Convention Rights by the HRA 1998 it is necessary to analyse the relevant developments in case law involving the interaction between the HRA 1998 and judicial precedent. This article provides a concise introduction to the underlying features associated with the traditional understanding of judicial precedent in the English legal system, introduces the relevant sections of the HRA 1998 that affect the doctrine of precedent, and analyses the relevant case law on the topic to draw.