How to Read a Judgment (Without Getting Lost)

Reading judgments is a skill, and like most skills it improves with a method. Here is the one we teach at SOLE.

Step 1 ??? Identify the parties and facts

Who is the appellant and who is the respondent? What happened before the case reached this court?

Step 2 ??? Find the legal question

Every case turns on one or two questions of law.

Step 3 ??? Locate the ratio decidendi

The ratio is the rule of law that the court applied and that binds lower courts.