Itimportanttoknowinwhichcourtadecisionwasmade,andtoknowthataSupremeCourt(orHouseofLords)decisionisworthmorethanadecisionmadeintheHighCourt.Itisalsonecessarytoassessthechancesofaparticularcourtnotfollowingoneofitsowndecisions,astherulesontheapplicationofthedoctrineofprecedentonthispointmayvaryfromcourttocourt.
TheJudicatureActsof1873-1875createdacourthierarchy,whichwascompletedwhentheHouseofLordsbecamethefinalCourtofAppealfollowingtheAppellateJurisdictionAct1876.Themoderndoctrineofthebindingforceofjudicialprecedentonlyfullyemergedwhentherewasgoodlawreportingandasettledjudicialhierarchy.
Aswellasthebindingprecedentdiscussedabove,thereisalsopersuasiveprecedentfromahighcourtinanotherjurisdiction.Persuasiveprecedentisoftenarguedwheretherearenosimilarcasesinajurisdiction.Innewareasoflaw,suchasvirtualpropertyandIVF,persuasiveprecedentmaybetheonlyprecedentavailable.
ThisdiagramshowsthehierarchyoftheUKcourtsinasimplifiedform.NotethattheCourtofJusticeoftheEuropeanUnionandtheEuropeanCourtofHumanRightsstandalongsidetheUKcourtsheirarchy.ReferencecanbemadetotheCourtofJusticefromanycourtinthesystem.TheEuropeanCourtofHumanRightsenforcetheEuropeanConventiononHumanRights.
TheSupremeCourtreplacedtheAppellateCommitteeoftheHouseofLordsinOctober2009.TheSupremeCourtishousedinMiddlesexGuildhallonParliamentSquareinLondon.
Oneofthefirstthingsalawstudenthastodoislearnhowtonavigateandinterpretalawreportquickly.Alawreportismorethanjustthejudgment.Itbeginswiththenamesoftheparties,thedateofthehearingandthenamesofthejudgeorjudges,and,usually,thecourt.Thenfollowcatchwords,whichareindexingtermsandtheheadnote,whichisasummaryofthefactsandthejudgmentbythebarristerreportingthecase.TheLawReports(AppealCases,QueensBench,Chancery,Familyetc)includetheargumentsofcounsel.
Thejudgmentsometimesbeginsseveralpagesafterthebeginningofthereport.Thejudgmentisoftenprecededbytheabbreviationcuradvvult(curiaadvisarivult,'thecourtwishestoconsiderthematter')or'TheirLordshipstooktimeforconsideration'or'Thefollowingjudgmentswerehandeddown'.
JudgmentsintheSupremeCourt(and,previously,HouseofLords)aregenerally'handeddown'inprintform.Judgesinthecivilandappellatecourts(bothcriminalandcivil)willusuallyreflectuponacasebeforereachingafinaldecision.Theythereforeholdbackorreservejudgmentuntilalaterdate.Incriminalcasesafterthejuryhasreachedaverdictinthetrialcourt,thejudgemaysentenceimmediatelyorcallforreportsandsentenceatalaterdate.Inothercourts,decisionsofjudgesaredeliveredorally(extempore)andrecordedverbatimbythecourtstenographer.Officialandunofficiallawreportersattendcourtandtakeshorthandnotes.
About2500judgments(lessthan2%ofalljudgments)arereportedinlawreportsserieseachyear.DecisionsoftheSupremeCourt(previouslyHouseofLords)andtheCourtofAppealpredominatebecauseoftheweightaccordedthembythedoctrineofprecedent.OnlyasmallproportionofthethousandsoffirstinstancecasesintheHighCourtarereported.WhentheLawReports,themostauthoritativereportsinEnglandandWales,wereproposedin1863,itwassuggestedthattheyshouldincludeallcaseswhich:
Judgescanrecommenddecisionsforreporting,butthisdecisionisgenerallymadebytheeditorsofthevariouslawreportseries.Thismeansthatcasesofspecialistinterestmaybeoverlooked,whilstcasesthataddnothingnewbutgiveanimpressionofbroadcoveragemaybeincluded.
Manyjudgmentsarereportedinmorethanonelawreportsseries,someofwhicharemoreauthoritativethanothers.ForthefullestandmostauthoritativereportreadtheOfficialLawReports.TheAllEnglandLawReportsorspecialistreportsareoftencitedonreadinglists;generallyspeaking,thejudgmentshouldbethesameineachreportparticularyforcontemporaryreports,althoughtheheadnoteandotherinformationincludedbythebarristerwhohaspreparedthereportwillbedifferent.
Contemporarycaseshavethreemainelementsinthecitation:partynames(initalics),theneutralcitation,andthereportofthejudgment.Forjudgmentspriortotheintroductionofneutralcitations,citepartynames(initalics),thereportofthejudgmentandtheabbreviatednameofthecourt,inbrackets.Ifyouquoteorparaphrasefromajudgmentyoualsoneedtoprovideapinpoint.
Party(orcase)Names
Thenamesofthepartiesinajudgmentshouldbeinitalicorunderlined.Iftherearemultiplepartiesinacase,nameonlythefirstclaimantandthefirstdefendant,anduseonlysurnames.AbbreviatetermssuchasDirectorofPublicProsecutions(DPP)andCompany(Co).
NeutralCitations
Aneutralcitationidentifiesajudgment;itisperhapsmostlyeasilyunderstoodasajudgmentnumber,eventhoughitlookslikeacitationforalawreport.Theterm'neutral'isusedtoindicatethatitisindependentofanypublishedreport('medianeutral').NeutralcitationswerefirstissuedbytheHouseofLords,PrivyCouncil,CourtofAppealandAdministrativeCourtin2001,andbyallotherdivisionsoftheHighCourtin2002.Tribunalsandcommissionsalsoissueneutralcitations.
Neutralcitationsgivetheyearofjudgmentinsquarebrackets,thecourtabbreviationandthejudgmentnumber.NeutralcitationsfromtheHighCourtincludethedivisioninbracketsafterthejudgmentnumber.Examplesofneutralcitationsfollow.
NameofcaseClaimantvDefendantorApplicantvRespondent
Year
AbbreviationofCourt
JudgmentNumber
JameelvWallStreetJournalEurope
ChandlervCapeplc
(QB)
Reportcitations
Whencitingareportofajudgment,citethe'bestreport'(asindicatedinthehierarchyoflawreportstableabove),givingtheyearofthevolume,thevolumenumberifthereisone,theabbreviationofthelawreportseriesandthefirstpageofthereport.Ifthereisnoneutralcitation(whichwillbethecasebefore2001),alsoindicatethecourtinbracketsattheend.
NameofcaseClaimantvDefendentorApplicantvRespondent
Volume
Abbreviationofseries
Firstpageofreport
Citationsincludingneutralcitationsandreportcitations:givetheneutralcitationfirst,followedbyacitationofthebestreport,separatedbyacomma.
Nameofcase
Neutralcitation
'Bestreport'
CorrvIBCVehiclesLtd
Squarebrackets[]areusedwheretheserieshasnoconsecutivevolumenumbersandtheyearisessentialforfindingthecorrectvolume.So,thereportofDonoghuevStevensonisinthe1932volumeoftheAppealCases,beginningatpage562,whichiswritten[1932]AC562.Neutralcitationsalsousesquarebracketsfortheyear.
Roundbrackets()areusedaroundtheyearinalegalcitationwhentheserieshasconsecutivevolumenumbersandtheyearisnotessentialforfindingthecase.Forexample,tofindthereportcitedas(1983)77CrAppR76youdon'tneedthedatebecausethevolumenumber-77-indicateswhereyouwillfindthereport.
TheOfficialLawReports,theAllEnglandsandsomeotherreportsseriesthatusetheyearasavolumenumberoftenhavemorethanonevolumeeachyear.Thevolumenumberfollowstheyear,afterthesquarebrackets.Annualvolumenumbersrarelygoabove5.
Squarebracketsandroundbracketsareusedinthesamewayinlegaljournalcitations.
Apinpointisareferencetoaparticularparagraphorpagenumber.Alljudgmentswithneutralcitationshavenumberedparagraphs.Whenquotingfromajudgment,providetheparagraphsbeingquotedinsquarebracketsattheendofthecitation,asshownwiththe[45]insquarebracketsattheendofthecitationinRvG(below).Ifcitingmorethanoneparagraph,separatethemwithcommas,eg[45],[49].Ifcitingseveralparagraphsinarow,jointhemwithahyphenoremdash,eg[45]-[48].
Toreferencequotesfromjudgmentsthatdon'thaveparagraphnumbers,citethepagenumberafterthecourt.Thefollowingexampleiscitingaquotefromorareferencetopage714ofthereport..
Ifinthelawlibrary,youmayprefertouseDRaistrick,IndextoLegalCitationsandAbbreviations(3rdedn,Sweet&Maxwell2008),whichisavailableattheEnquiryDesk.