In contrast with the ratio decidendi is the obiter dictum. The latter is a mere saying by the way, a chance remark, which is not binding upon future courts, though it may be respected according to the reputation of the judge, the eminence of the court, and the circumstances in which it came to be pronounced. An example would be a rule of law stated merely by way of analogy or illustration, or a suggested rule upon which a decision is not finally rested. The reason for not regarding an obiter dictum as binding is that it was probably made without a full consideration of the cases on the point, and that, if very broad in its terms, it was probably made without a full consideration of all the consequences that may follow from it; or the judge may not have expressed a concluded opinion.
Glanville Williams, Learning the Law (11th ed. 1982) at 77-78. Glanville Llewelyn Williams QC, LL.D., F.B.A. (15 February 1911 – 10 April 1997) was an influential Welsh legal professor and formerly the Rouse Ball Professor of English Law at the University of Cambridge. His book Learning the Law is something like an English Bramble Bush.
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