Dicta

Dicta is the plural of dictum, a term used in law to describe statements or observations contained in a court’s opinion that do not bear on the essential legal rule or the outcome of the case. A dictum may offer commentary, hypothetical scenarios, or general principles that go beyond what was necessary to decide the dispute.

In common law systems, the binding element of a decision is the ratio decidendi, the reason or rule of law necessary to reach the outcome. Dicta are not binding precedents, but they can be persuasive authority. Courts sometimes rely on dicta to illuminate related issues, suggest how the law might apply in other situations, or guide future reasoning. Nevertheless, dicta do not control the result of the case at hand.

A related term, obiter dictum (often shortened to obiter), refers to a remark made “by the way” in passing. Obiter dicta are a subset of dicta and are typically treated as non-binding commentary, though they may be influential in later litigation.

Dicta can appear in judgments on a range of topics, including constitutional interpretation, statutory construction, or general legal principles. While rarely binding, well-reasoned dicta can shape jurisprudence by shaping future debates and influencing subsequent courts’ approaches to similar questions.

See also: ratio decidendi, obiter dicta. Etymology: from Latin dictum, meaning “a saying” or “a formal statement”; dicta is the plural form.