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Lay people in the law. 1. The English Legal System has slowly been evolving over time and can be traced back as far as 1066. Certain characteristics help to distinguish this law system from any other, such as the law of precedent. Throughout time a specific court structure has matured and a form of hierarchy is held between the different courts. Through the doctrine of binding precedent the decisions of the superior courts are binding on the courts, which are below it. The doctrine of precedent states that a decision made by a court in one case is binding in other courts, in later cases involving similar facts. And therefore past decisions must be followed in subsequent cases, irrespective of whether the courts in those subsequent cases agree with them or not. Precedent is the basis of the common law, but even in non-legal groups the idea of precedent is strong, and...

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