Obiter dictum

Obiter dictum means something that a judge says in a court case that is not really necessary to deciding the case but adds additional information. It's like when your teacher tells you something interesting that's related to the lesson, but not necessary to understand the subject.

Let's say you and a friend both want to ride your bike, but only you have a helmet. Your friend decides to ride without a helmet and gets hurt. You might go to court to figure out who is responsible for the injury. The judge might say that it's against the law to ride a bike without a helmet, and because your friend didn't wear one, they are responsible for their own injury. That's the important part of the judge's decision.

But the judge might also say something like, "It's really important to always wear a helmet when you ride a bike because it can protect your head from injuries." That's the obiter dictum because it's not necessary to decide the case, but it's still important to know.

So basically, obiter dictum is like a bonus piece of information from a judge that's not crucial but still interesting or useful to know.