Obiter dicta are non-legally significant findings made by a court or judge, often used to explain a ruling or opinion. They can include examples and analogies, and are sometimes cited in later decisions. While they have no official legal weight, they can be influential and scrutinized by lawyers. They can also be used to establish legal doctrine, as in the case of “legal persons” being entitled to constitutional protections.
The obiter dicta are findings pronounced by the court or in written form by a judge which may form part of an opinion or a sentence, but are not legally significant in themselves; that is, the judgment or opinion in which they are included would stand by itself without them. The term itself is Latin, plural of obiter dictum, and is usually translated as “something said in passing.” Featured in all but the briefest judicial statement, these remarks are a routine part of jurisprudence around the world.
When a judge makes a ruling, opinion, or other statement, it is usually expressed in prose, especially when dealing with a ruling or judgment, and consists of much more than a sentence or two setting forth the ruling or the sentence. Most court statements include one or more explanations of the decision, the judge’s recitation of the facts of the case, interpretation of those facts, how courts in the past have dealt with those facts, and so on. They can also review and interpret the evidence presented and explore its relationship to the rest of the issues in the case. In many cases, they will use other examples and analogies to express and explain themselves. These examples and analogies are all obiter dicta which can make the opinion easier to understand without adding to it.
When a court has multiple members and a dissent is issued, the dissent itself also has obiter dicta status because it is a court-issued statement that carries no official legal weight. While they have no legal weight in and of themselves, obiter dicta are sometimes cited in later opinions and decisions, whether they are identified as such or not.
While they have no official legal weight, obiter dicta can be influential. For example, a judge, in imposing a sentence, might point to specific elements of the offender’s crime or history that warrant a harsh or lenient sentence. These statements are generally not necessary for the adjudication of sentence, and are therefore obiter dicta, but will be thoroughly scrutinized by both prosecutors and defense attorneys who bring cases before that judge in the future. Another example of the importance of the obiter dicta are cases where courts refuse to accept a case due to lack of jurisdiction. Having declined to rule on the merits, the courts sometimes make observations on the merits of the case. These observations have no official standing but are nonetheless significant as official court statements.
The obiter dicta can be influential even in the absence of a real decision. US Supreme Court Justice Morrison Waite, in 1886, made some remarks before oral arguments in a case. His remarks were captured and included in the case transcript and have since become the basis for the legal doctrine that “legal persons” – that is, non-human legal entities such as corporations and partnerships – are entitled to the protections of the 14th United States Constitution. Amendment.
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