Reference to Cases
This indicates cases that are referred to in the judgments and what the court does with them. In this instance the court distinguishes the cases of Balfour v Balfour, Jones v Padavatton and Gould v Gould. This means that the rule applicable in these cases does not apply in Merritt v Merritt because the facts of the latter case differed in a material sense from the facts of the previous cases.
Judges may also do the following in relation to previous cases:
Follow - where a higher court adopts a principle stated by a lower court
Reverse - where a higher court changes the decision of a lower court
Affirm - where a higher court does not change the decision of a lower court
Approve -a higher court agrees with the decision of a lower court in a different case
Overrule - where a court states that a previous (different) case no longer is law
Consider - where a court looks at a case, but then does not use the
case to determine the outcome of the instant case.