'RATIO DECIDENDI' of a case is:

Question

Accepted Answer

D. the RULE OF LAW or PRINCIPLE that the court applied to decide the case — the BINDING PART of the precedent; the proposition without which the decision could not stand

1. RATIO DECIDENDI (Latin: 'reason for deciding') is the RULE OF LAW that the court applied in arriving at its decision.
2. It is the BINDING PART of a precedent under the doctrine of stare decisis.
3. The ratio is the proposition WITHOUT WHICH the decision could not stand.
4. Distinguished from OBITER DICTA (Latin: 'said in passing') — observations by judges on points not necessary to the decision; obiter is PERSUASIVE only, not binding.
5. IDENTIFYING the ratio requires interpretation:
6. (i) The MATERIAL FACTS that the court considered relevant;
7. (ii) The LEGAL PRINCIPLE applied to those facts;
8. (iii) The RESULT.
9. Goodhart's test, Wambaugh's inversion test help identify ratio.
10. Hence option B is correct.
_Source: Legal Research Methodology + Jurisprudence — Ratio decidendi doctrine_

Answer

dicta said in passing (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine)

Answer

the headnote (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine)

Answer

the dissenting opinion (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine) (cf. Ratio decidendi doctrine)