The importance of minority judgments in judicial decision-making: an analysis of Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development v Prince

Abstract

Dissent plays an important role in judicial decision-making and can have a far-reaching impact on the development of law. It is therefore important to analyse the role that dissenting judgments plays in legal decision-making and question how dissenting arguments influence the functioning of a court and, in this instance, specifically the Constitutional Court. This case note analyses the judgment in Prince v President, Cape Law Society (2002) and traces how the dissenting judgment became the majority decision in Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development v Prince (2018). The case note highlights the need for contextual evidence in judicial decision-making and its importance in understanding the wider impact legal decisions might have.