Both cases contain products that were harmful to consumers. Therefore, with the application of stare decisis, the precedent set in Donoghue applies to the case Grant. The hierarchy of courts in English legal system is consisted of fire levels, they are the European Court of Justice, House of Lords, Court of Appeal, Crown courts and High court, and finally Country court and Magistrate's court. It is important to examine how the application of stare decisis works in the hierarchy. The House of Lords (Supreme Court) is usually the highest court in the English Legal System. But when there are matters of European Union involve, under the European Communities Act 1972, all the decisions from the European Court of Justice are binding on all courts up to the House of Lords. The Hose of Lords was bounded by its own previous decisions until 1966 when Lord Gardiner LC brought a change, House of Lords would normally follow its past decisions but it has the power to depart from it when it appears right to do so. .
Then, following by two divisions of the Court of Appeal which are civil and criminal. They are bound by their own previous decisions and decisions from the Supreme Court and the ECJ. But in the Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co ltd (1944)2, the court of appeal gave three exceptions. Firstly, when two previous decisions are in conflict, the court of appeal can choose one to follow. Secondly, the court of appeal must follow decisions from the Supreme Court even if its decisions has not been overruled by the Supreme Court. Thirdly, the court of appeal can depart from its previous decision if it is in fact wrong (per incuriam). In the criminal division, although it is generally bound by its past decision, however with the exceptions set out in Young V Bristol Aeroplane, and referring to R v Taylor (1950)3, the court of appeal must examine carefully on the past precedent before it applies which was followed by later case, R v Gould (1968)4.
