2013年特许公认会计师考试F4模拟试题[1]

【无忧考网 - 特许公认会计师(ACCA/CAT)试题】
Fundamentals Level -Skills Module， Paper F4 (GLO)

Corporate and Business Law (Global) June 2009 Answers

In relation to aspect of business law the default law and cases refer to the United Kingdom， however relevant law from other jurisdictions will be credited where appropriate.

1 This question requires candidates to explain the way in which the doctrine of precedent operates within two of three legal systems， although it is recognised that the doctrine is essentially an aspect of Common Law systems.

(a) Precedent in the English Common Law

The doctrine of binding precedent， or stare decisis， lies at the heart of the English legal system. The doctrine refers to the fact that within the hierarchical structure of the English courts， a decision of a higher court will be binding on a court lower than it in that hierarchy. When judges try cases they will check to see if a similar situation has come before a court previously. If the precedent was set by a court of equal or higher status to the court deciding the new case then the judge in the present case should normally follow the rule of law established in the earlier case.

It is important to establish that it is not the actual decision in a case that sets the precedent; that is set by the rule of law on which the decision is founded. This rule， which is an abstraction from the facts of the case， is known as the ratio decidendi of the case.

Any statement of law that is not an essential part of the ratio decidendi is， strictly speaking， superfluous; and any such statement is referred to as obiter dictum， i.e. said by the way. Although obiter dicta statements do not form part of the binding precedent they are persuasive authority and can be taken into consideration in later cases.

There are numerous perceived advantages of the doctrine of stare decisis; amongst which are：

(i) Time saving. This refers to the fact that it saves the time of the judiciary， lawyers and their特许公认会计师(ACCA/CAT)