In common law legal terminology a dictum (plural dicta) is any statement that forms a part of the judgment of a court, in particular a court whose decisions have value as precedent under the doctrine of stare decisis. A judgment or judgement, in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following legal proceedings. ... Precedent is the principle in law of using the past in order to assist in current interpretation and decision-making. ... Stare decisis (pronounced in English as ) is a Latin term (to stand by things decided) used in common law to express the notion that prior court decisions must be recognized as precedents, according to case law. ...
Conceptually, dicta are divided into those which form a part of the reason for the decision or ratio decidendi, which are binding as precedent, and those which do not, which are called obiter dicta. The legal, moral, political, and social principles used by a court to compose the rationale or ratio decidendi of a particular judgment. ... In law, the term dicta is used to refer to a judges statement of legal opinion that is not directly relevant to the case being heard. ...