Describe briefly the elements in reading a case law.

INTRODUCTION:

According to Black’s Law Dictionary 4th Edition, case law can be defined as the aggregate of reported cases as
forming a body of jurisprudence, or the law of a particular subject as evidenced or formed by the adjudged
cases, in distinction to statutes and other sources of law. In other terms, it is a technique that involves a short
summary and analysis of the case presented in a systematic way in order to sort out the parties, identify the
issue, ascertain what was decided and analyse the reason behind the decision made by the courts. There are 6
important elements in reading a case law which consist of the substantive facts, issues of the case, rules or
principles of the case, ratio decidendi, policy and obiter dictum.

CONTENT 1:

The first element are the substantive facts of the case. In simpler terms, the substantive facts can be deduced
as the ‘who, what, where and when’ of the case. These facts are significant and provide even the slightest
difference to the case, which provides uniqueness to each case. The facts aid the court in framing the issues
and the decision will be special to the case based on the facts. As the judge’s decision is based on the facts of
the case, it is said to be a critical part of the holding. Any slight difference in the facts can alter the final
decision on whether the court will side with one party or the other. For instance, given a hypothetical case, if
the robber had threatened an elderly man with a plastic knife, butter knife or pocket knife, would the holding
be the same for each situation? A good brief of facts will include a summary of the substantive facts and the
legal points in the case. It will show the nature of the litigation, who sued whom, based on what occurrences,
and what happened in the lower court. The facts are sometimes summarized at the beginning of the published
court opinion. In some instances, the most accurate statement of facts can be found in a dissenting or
concurring judgement. 

CONTENT 2:

Besides that, the next element in reading a case law are the issues of the case. With reference to Black’s Law
Dictionary 4th Edition, issue can be defined as A single, certain, and material point, deduced by the pleadings of
the parties, which is affirmed on the one side and denied on the other. The issues or questions of law raised by
the substantive facts of the case are in most cases explicitly stated by the court. On some occasions, a judge
may misrender the questions raised by a lower court’s opinion, the parties on appeal, or by the nature of the
case. In court, the trial is framed by legal questions, which are the issues, and must be answered by the court
in order to reach a decision on a specific case. When an issue of fact arises, the court or jury must consider and
evaluate the weight of the evidence in order to reach a decision. When an issue of law exists, a ground for a
Summary Judgment sought by a party to the action will be brought forward. Only one conclusion can be drawn
by the court from the undisputed evidence, without the need for deliberation by a jury. 

CONTENT 3:

The third element in reading a case law is the rules or principles of the case. With reference to Black’s Law
Dictionary 4th Edition, principle is a fundamental truth or doctrine of law which furnishes a basis or origin for
others. This said truth or proposition has to be evidently clear that it cannot be contradicted unless by a
clearer proposition. These rules utilised by the courts are derived from both statutes and precedent
judgements, which is discussed in the doctrine of stare decisis. The basic rule of law can be obtained from
statutes, whereas its application is further explained by the case. In any one situation, if a previous court has
dealt with a case that contains same or similar issues and facts, the court has a duty to abstract a general rule
from that case. This general rule derived must then be applied to all pending cases that follow, whereby the
judges are bound to follow the judgement of the precedent case. However, if court had failed to take into
account relevant legal principles or statute, the principle of the stare decisis is not applicable to the decision
given the per incuriam. The specific facts of the case are can be retrieved from the general rule, and if the case
is the first of its kind, or otherwise known as a case of first impression, the lawyers and judges may refer to
similar cases in different factual context. Cases referred to may originate from other countries such as English
or India cases if they are not available in Malaysian Case Law. 

CONTENT 4:

The next element to reading case law is the ratio decidendi, or otherwise known as the reasoning of the judge.
According to Black’s Law Dictionary 4th Edition, ratio decidendi can be referred to as the ground of decision. It
is the point in as case which determines the judgement. The reasoning is an essential part of the case,
especially if the lawyer is requesting the court to form a conclusion from a different area of law in deciding a
case of first impression. In understanding the reason for the decision, the reasoning comes in handy whereby it
can also persuade a latter court in the decision making of an analogous case. The ratio is inclusive all of the
principles a court relies on, such as the moral, political, or social aspects. This is to justify their reasoning for
the decision obtained from the case. In other terms, a ratio is comprised of the legal points made by all the
parties to a case. To summarise, it is the principle of law which does not form part of the decision, as it is the
reason behind the decision.

CONTENT 5:

Furthermore, the following element is the policy of the case. By virtue of Black’s Law Dictionary 4 th Edition, the
policy is the general principles by which a government is guided in its management of public affairs, or the
legislature in its measures. This term, as applied to a law, ordinance, or rule of law, denotes its general purpose
or tendency considered as directed to the welfare or prosperity of the state or community. Even though not all
opinions will have a policy, courts will in many cases explain how the decision is in accordance to public policy.
This is evident especially in circumstances when the court is expanding a previous rule, drawing a conclusion
from a different area of law or deciding a case of first impression. In instances when the law has been settled
and the case is common, the court will not be obliged to give an explanation to the public policy of the decision
for each preceding case. This public policy materializes in two types of cases, one of which is when the case
aims to discourage socially detrimental behaviour, therefore the court will explain the public policy behind the
decision. The other type of case is when the courts wish to encourage socially desirable behaviour, thus the
explanation behind their holdings will be listed by the courts. For example, in a hypothetical case, if the
previous case carries a mandatory sentence twice that for unarmed robbery, the expansion of the definition
for armed robber may be done to include knives as well as pistols to discourage the use of knives. 

CONTENT 6:

The last element is the obiter dictum of a case. With reference to Black’s Law Dictionary 4 th Edition, obiter
dictum is the words of a prior opinion entirely unnecessary for the decision of the case. It can be referred as
something said by the way. Dictum holds meaning of evidently extraneous, which is necessary in deciding a
case as it is part of the court’s decision. It also does not carry the weight of the holding. Every holding requires
two fundamental steps, which are the issue must be fully argued by all sides to the dispute, and the court must
consider the carefully in the light of the arguments. It should be noted that dictum is not the result of this
adversary process. Given the circumstance that it is found to be necessary to the decision of the case, it may
not have been argued by the opposing counsel or considered by the court in full. If one of the two steps is
present, the result is still said to be dictum. In some instances, the dictum may be easy to find. For example, if
the court alluded that “If the facts had been ‘x’ instead of ‘y’, we might have held ‘b’. However, because the
facts were ‘y’ we held ‘a’. “For an attorney with a case containing ‘x’ facts, it may prove to be useful as it aids
the lawyer in predicting the probable outcome of his case. However, the bigger the gap of time passed
between the opinion and a case, the dictum is deemed to be less valuable. This is said to be so as the
conditions may have been altered and the judges who once agreed with the dictum may have retired. 

CONCLUSION:

To conclude, these six elements in reading a case law is essential in ensuring a law student, practicing lawyer
or judge is able to successfully derive al the key points in a case to provide justice for each case. With the aid of
these elements, all cases will be tried in fair and just manner as all the important factors would have been
taken into account, leading to the final judgement of the case. The ability to read case law is one of the most
essential skills for law students aiming for disciplinary success. It is particularly fundamental since case law is
one of the main sources of law. According to research carried out by Christensen (2006) entitled "Legal
Reading and Success in Law School: An Empirical Study", it was proven that students who are able to read
judicial opinions effectively and efficiently are more successful in their studies, than those who were unable
to.