| Abstract [eng] |
The doctoral dissertation is mainly focused on the question when and on what grounds precedents are followed or departed from. If this question is solved incorrectly, precedent is either disregarded or followed too strictly. Ignoring judicial precedents undermines principles of equality, legal certainty and many others. Too strict adherence to precedents may cause their application in situations, where solution, provided by the precedent, may not be the best. Dissertation consists of two main parts: the first includes analysis on the concept of judicial precedent’s authority, as well as reasons for and against it. The second part deals with instruments for optimal protection of judicial precedent’s prerequisites (among others, models on reasoning with precedents; criteria, used to solve questions of following or departure from precedents; principles on determination of the moment when precedents come into force). Most of the assessments in the dissertation are based on evaluation of costs and benefits for the prerequisites of judicial precedent’s authority, which can be summed up as a flexibility-stability based approach to judicial precedents. |
