On Mar 27, 2006, at 8:14 AM, jayjg wrote:
I would imagine it would have implications for
all countries with
legal
systems based on British Common Law, which I would think would look
at the
ruling in this case when deciding similar cases.
It would depend--the American legal system is based on English common
law, but American courts rarely, if ever, take into account English
court precedents after the colonial period. Commonwealth countries
may still take into account contemporary English precedents, however.
AIUI, that's due to bog-standard insecurity --- "we can't let those
dirty forners tell us what to do!"
The Australian High Court recently (well, fifteen years ago ...)
looked
to Zimbabwe and Canada (IIRC) for guidance. I believe the argument
goes
something like: "our law was the same up until X date, therefore ---
barring decisions that drastically change this area of law --- we're
likely to be expected to come to similar conclusions".