Prior to 1865, there were no formal legal reports. To date, the UK government has not published an official report. However, its courts and the Bluebook suggest citing English accounts for pre-1865 cases whenever possible. After 1865, you cite official legal reports (external link). Other reporters, such as the Weekly Law Reports and the All England Law Reports, may be used if a case has not been reported in the Law Reports. A full timeline with links to resources can be found here. Many judgments are recorded in more than one series of legislative reports, some of which are more authoritative than others. For the most comprehensive and authoritative report, read the official legal reports. The All England Law Reports are often cited on reading lists; In general, the verdict should be the same in each report, especially for contemporary reports, although the note and other information contained by the lawyer who prepared the report is different. The All England Reporter is the only service of its kind whose reports are prepared exclusively by lawyers or qualified lawyers whose names appear at the end of each collection and therefore meet the Halsbury`s requirements cited above. Most of the Bodleian Law Library`s British paper collection is located on the ground floor of the library. Legal reports are available at Cw UK 100 and reviews at Cw UK 300. British legal monographs are catalogued with different class marks, making it easy to navigate, this section starts at K to KZ before the main series of legal reports and journals.
The legislation on paper can be found on floor 1. The practice of giving neutral quotations for judgments, i.e. quotations not linked to a series of reports, was introduced to the Court of Appeal and administrative tribunals by Practice Note [2001] 1 All ER 193 and extended to the High Court by Practice Directive [2002] 1 All ER 351. The previous practice note also introduced the practice of paragraph numbers in judgments. According to Lord Woolf CJ ([2001] 1 All ER 193, paragraphs 2.3-2.4): A neutral quotation identifies a judgment; It is perhaps most easily understood as a judgment figure, even if it looks like a quote for a legislative report. The term “neutral” is used to indicate that it is independent of a published report (“media neutral”). Neutral citations were first published by the House of Lords, the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal and the Administrative Court in 2001 and by all other divisions of the High Court in 2002. Courts and commissions also issue neutral citations. Abbreviations are often used to refer to legal reports and legal journals. Use the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations to find out what abbreviations mean. The Cardiff Index contains abbreviations for UK and foreign legal reports and reviews, as well as some important legislative publications and manuals. Westlaw, Lexis and other databases also contain information on abbreviations.
Legal reporting was regulated in the late nineteenth century. Prior to 1865, lawyers attended hearings and wrote and published case reports, often under their own names. These reports are commonly referred to as “appointment reports”. The dissemination of these reports and uncertainty as to what constituted the authoritative report of the judgment led to the creation of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting (ICLR), which publishes the official legal reports. Many older reports have been collected and published in 172 volumes under the name English Reports. Although the cases listed in the CLOUT have already been published in Volume 2 or 3 of the Weekly Legal Bulletins, they are fully revised and updated to include all the most recent references for each case cited. The peculiarity of legal reports is that, in addition to all the characteristics of weekly case reports, case reports usually contain a summary of the lawyer`s reasoning prepared by the rapporteur covering the hearing and approved by the lawyer before publication. An argument from the defense attorney may be essential in determining whether and how a particular point was brought before the court or in relation to which point a previous authority was cited. It is also a unique historical document that reinforces the professional, academic and forensic value of the reports. Six or seven sets of legal reports generally cover UK courts, while many series deal with specific areas of law. Reports are cited as [year] All ER (D) (number) (months), for example: Smith v Jones [2008] All.
ER (D) 999 (Nov.). All England Reporter also provides links to cases cited within the same platform in its summaries. At the British Library you can access extensive collections of legal reports published in Britain from the 19th century onwards. We also have transcripts of judgments for some cases. Fourth, if a judgment is not mentioned in any of the reports listed above, but in other reports, it may be cited. First, the cases reported in the official legal reports (AC, QBD, Ch, Fam) of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. These are the most reliable reports and contain a summary of the reasoning. If a judgment is reported in these reports, it is cited. Other reports and transcripts can only be used if a case is not included in the official legal reports.
Note: Law Reports have been published monthly since 1865 and are widely regarded as the most reliable series of legal reports for England and Wales. As official series, they must be preferable to all other reports of the same case. See Practice Direction (citing sources) [2012] 1 WLR 780. Official law reports, the All Englands and other series that use the year as a volume number often have more than one volume per year. The volume number follows the year following the square brackets. Annual volume figures rarely exceed 5. The hierarchy of legal reports that must be cited using the following legal reports: The British Library has modern legal reports published in the UK since 1865. In our reading rooms you can search for legal cases and use online databases, print journals or news media. Trust – we are confident to provide the highest standards of accurate and authoritative legal reporting We have reports and reviews that are incomplete or not available online. The following selected titles can be requested in our reading rooms: Modern legal reports aim to provide accurate and comprehensive accounts of court decisions and reasoning in cases that have the force of law as precedents.
They are dominated by cases from higher courts and very rarely contain cases decided by lower courts. Third, if the case was not reported in any of the legal reports mentioned above, but in one of the series of authoritative technical reports that contain a principal note and were prepared by qualified persons of higher courts, that technical report may be cited. Expert reports include: In the reading room for the social sciences, you will find online legal databases that you can use for case research. The databases provide access to case summaries, full-text legal reports, transcripts of judgments and commentaries. The databases include the following series of legal reports: This is more important today than ever and explains why we are generally regarded as the most authoritative source of English case law. Practice: Citation of Authorities 2012 states that if a case is reported in official legal reports, “that report must be cited. It is the reports that are the most authoritative; They contain a summary of the argument. Other sets of official reports and minutes of judgements may only be used if a case is not included in the official legal reports. He goes on to say that if the judgment is not reported in the official legal reports, the All England Law Reports or the Weekly Law Reports should be cited. It is the duty of defence counsel to cite the relevant legal report for a case, and it is not sufficient to cite an unofficial report when there is an official or approved report. Therefore, when researching or preparing bundles for lawyers or courts, it is important to ensure that the most appropriate legal reports are mentioned. The Law Journal library contains more than 500 American, British, Australian and international law journals. For most journals, appointment scheduling starts very early (in many cases, from the first issue).
However, the latest editions (during the last calendar year) are sometimes unavailable due to licensing restrictions. HeinOnline provides these journals annually on an ongoing basis. The Law Reports series provides authoritative full-text reports. The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting has published this series since 1865. Previously, reports of varying quality were published in various “appointment” bill reports. Judgments of the Supreme Court (and previously the House of Lords) are usually “proclaimed” in printed form. Judges in civil and appellate courts (criminal and civil courts) will usually review a case before making a final decision. They therefore refrain from making a judgment or reserve the right to make a judgment until a later date.
In criminal cases, after the jury has rendered a verdict by the trial court, the judge may immediately rule or request reports and the verdict at a later date.