Common law is the phrase used in England to denote the law as can be gathered from the decisions of judges. This is based upon judicial precedents handed down from generation to generation. In common law countries, the prevailing opinion is that the precedent is a formal source of law. To say that the precedent is a formal source it must be conceded that the judges do make law. But on this point there is cleavage of opinion. This idea was rejected by some of the eminent common law judges and jurists;1 while others maintain that judges do make law.2 The relative merits of these two theories, which may be called declaratory and creative theories of the judicial process, are not material for us now as both agree that a precedent is a source of law and they differ only in its value. The present task is to determine what is binding on a future judge in a judicial decision. The primary function of a judge is to administer j ....