OBSOLESCENCE AND MANDATORY JUDICIAL PRECEDENTS: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON THE DOCTRINE OF STARE DECISIS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Abstract

This paper examines the obsolescence of mandatory court precedents and its role in the application of the stare decisis doctrine in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The method of conceptual analysis, through literature review, is used to identify its hypotheses. It proposes a tripartite classification of these linked to their potential contexts of origin (judicial, legislative and social). It analyzes the role played by obsolescence in the evolution of stare decisis. It concludes that it serves as a bridge between the instrumental and pragmatic purposes of stare decisis (stability and predictability) and the reasons of justice that guide the exercise of jurisdictional activity.

Keywords

• mandatory judicial precedent
• stare decisis
• obsolescence
• overrulling