(a) No. It is wrong to say that the ratio decidendi consists only of the court's discussion of the law. The ratio decidendi itself is best regarded as having two components:

- the material facts which define the type of situation which define the type of situation being considered by the court; and

- the particular rule of law which the court has used to resolve the issue raised by those facts.

It should be noted that, when delivering a judgment, a court does not simply state the ratio decidendi. A judgement usually includes some explanatory discussion, historical perspective and an account of the judge's reasoning. Although useful in understanding the decision, these parts of a judgment fall outside of the ratio decidendi. They are referred to as obiter dicta (roughly translated as 'surrounding words') to distinguish them from the the essential facts and rules of law on which the outcome of the case was decided.