LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Judicial Precedent — Age of decision — Whether old decisions lose binding force
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
A case does not lose its value as a judicial precedent on the ground of age. The older a case, the maturer it is. Lower courts are bound to follow it until overruled by the highest court.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Tobi, JSC, in Okpala & Ors v. Okpu & Ors (2003) NLC-1211997(SC) at p. 19; Paras C–E.
"A case does not lose its value as a judicial precedent in the common law system on the ground of age. As a matter of law, a case which has survived the test of judicial precedent is recognised as stable, if decided by the highest court of the land, and will receive the adoration of the lower courts until overruled by the highest court... In my humble view, the older a case, the maturer it is and this court and all the courts below are bound to follow it, and not throw it in the dustbin."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Age does not diminish a precedent’s binding force. The principle applies to judicial precedent. Older precedents are mature and stable. The rule promotes certainty. Lower courts must follow established precedents. The principle is well-established.