Disadvantages of Precedent

• Judges are drawn from a narrow social spectrum (old white men), therefore their views are less likely to be representative of the general public
• The system is rigid, as lower courts have to follow the decisions of higher courts
• Judgments can be long and unclear, and so finding the ratio decidendi can be difficult
• In seeking to avoid a precedent, judges may make distinctions which seem neither logical nor in line with the general rules that have been developed
• Case law is not designed for coherent legal development - the law develops in an incremental fashion and the directions of such change are not predictable
• Only the Supreme Court can give an ultimate ruling on an issue before the courts - it is extremely expensive and time consuming to get a case this far
• The system of precedent cannot initiate legal change since it has to wait for and appropriate case to come before the courts
• Some judges have been frustrated by the restrictions imposed by the precedent system, believing them, at times, to create injustice
• Judicial precedent leads to complex and imprecise bodies of law, thus encouraging speculative litigation