Benjamin was charged in 2008 with the theft of confidential information in Toronto. The only judicial decision at the time relating to this offence was one in which the Ontario Court of Appeal said that the defendant, in a situation identical to Benjamin's, was guilty of theft under the Criminal Code."

a.Define the theory of precedent and explain how it applies here.

b.If the defendant in the Ontario case appealed and, in the summer of 2009, before Benjamin's case had come to trial, the Supreme Court of Canada reversed the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision, would this change your answer to the previous question? Why or why not?