Exceptions to the Principle of Stare Decisis
Common law courts are bound by authoritative precedent. This principle — stare decisis — is fundamental for guaranteeing certainty in the law. Subject to extraordinary exceptions, a lower court must apply the decisions of higher courts to the facts before it. This is called vertical stare decisis . R. v. Comeau , [2018] 1 SCR 342, 2018 SCC 15 (CanLII), at para. 26. However, stare decisis is not a straitjacket that condemns the law to stasis. Trial courts may reconsider settled rulings of higher courts in two situations: (1) where a new legal issue is raised; and (2) where there is a change in the circumstances or evidence that “fundamentally shifts the parameters of the debate”. Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford , 2018 SCC 72 (CanLII), at para. 42. While the latter exception is a narrow one [FN], it has been found to have been engaged, for example, where the underlying social context that framed the original legal debate is p...