While the doctrine clearly means that the present High Court is bound by decision of the present Supreme Court, it is not altogether clear whether the decisions of courts which previously performed the function of courts of last final appeal in Ireland – such as the British House of Lords – bind the present High Court. In "Irish Shell v. Elm Motors", Mr. Justice McCarthy doubted that decisions of pre-independence courts bound the courts of the state, stating that "[in no sense are our Courts a continuation of, or successors to, the British courts." However the other two judges on the panel hearing the case declined to express an opinion on the matter as it had not been argued at the hearing of appeal.