Ex tempore
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Ex tempore is a legal term that means 'at the time'. A judge who hands down a decision in a case soon or straight after hearing it is delivering a decision ex tempore. Another way a judge may deliver a decision is to reserve his decision and deliver it later in written form. An ex tempore judgment, being off the cuff, does not require the same preparation as a reserved decision. Consequently, it will not be as well thought out.
[edit] Stare decisis
In Australia, intermediate-level courts tend to have a heavy case load, and so many decisions are delivered ex tempore for reasons of time and necessity. Because many decisions are ex tempore, intermediate-level courts' decisions are not binding on inferior courts - that is to say, that in New South Wales, the District Court's decisions are not binding on the Local Court (see Valentine v Eid (1992) 27 NSWLR 615).
