LibAnswers

Andrew Taylor› Academic Services Librarian Faculty of Business, Law and Criminology

A law report is a printed or electronic record of a judicial decision on a point of law that establishes or clarifies a legal principle (precedent). Only around 2% of all judgments delivered each year appear in law report series. A case must lay down a new principle of law, change existing law, or clarify a doubtful point to be considered reportable.​ Decisions at lower court level are rarely reported because they don't establish binding precedent for other courts.

Elements of a Law Report

A full law report typically includes several key elements:​

• The case name and citation (how the case is formally identified and referenced)

• The date of the hearing and the names of the judge(s)

• The headnote (a summary of the case prepared by an experienced legal editor, highlighting the key legal principles)

• A summary of counsel's arguments (the lawyers' legal reasoning)

• The full judgment(s) delivered by the judge(s)

• The ratio decidendi (the legal principle upon which the decision was based)

This detailed structure distinguishes full law reports from judgment transcripts, as law reports are edited and verified for accuracy by both counsel and judges.​

The Hierarchy of Law Reports

When lawyers and judges need to cite a case in court, they must follow a strict hierarchy of law reports established by the Practice Direction: Citation of Authorities 2012. This means some law reports are more authoritative than others:​

Tier 1: The Official Law Reports (Most Authoritative)

The Official Law Reports published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting (ICLR) are regarded as the most authoritative reports in England and Wales and must be cited if a case is reported in this series. These are subdivided by court and include:​

• AC (Appeal Cases): Supreme Court, Privy Council, and occasionally Court of Justice decisions

• QB (Queen's Bench Division): High Court appeals, some Court of Appeal cases

• Ch (Chancery Division): Chancery matters

• Fam (Family Division): Family law cases

The Official Law Reports are superior because they include summaries of counsel's arguments, are checked for accuracy by both counsel and judges, and represent the settled, definitive version of the judgment.​

Tier 2: General Series (Secondary)

If a case is not reported in the Official Law Reports, these should be cited next:​

• Weekly Law Reports (WLR)

• All England Law Reports (All ER)

Either the WLR or All ER may properly be cited if the case appears in both, but neither is ranked above the other.​

Tier 3: Specialist Reports (Tertiary)

If a case is not reported in the Official Law Reports, WLR, or All ER, specialist law reports with headnotes prepared by Senior Courts-qualified individuals may be cited: These include:​

• Criminal Law Reports (Crim LR)

• Lloyd's Law Reports (Lloyd's Rep)

• Reports of Patent Cases (RPC)

• Family Law Reports (Family LR)

• Employment Law Reports (ELR)

Tier 4: Other Reports and Transcripts

Only if none of the above applies may other reports or official judgment transcripts be cited.

Citing a case in court

Law reports are the primary source material for legal argument and evidence in court. When presenting a case to a court, you are expected to cite from law reports according to the hierarchy above. Citing from the appropriate law report strengthens your legal argument because it demonstrates you are using the most authoritative version of the judgment.​

Courts require that when you cite a case, you provide:

• The full case name (in italics)

• The neutral citation (for cases from 2001 onwards), which is a unique reference assigned by the court that doesn't depend on which law report series you're using—for example: [2019] UKSC 41

• The law report reference (if available), following the hierarchy above—for example: [2020] A.C. 373 

• A pinpoint reference if you are quoting or paraphrasing a specific part of the judgment​, you add the paragraph number(s) in square brackets after the citation—for example: [24]-[31] 

Unreported Cases

Not every judgment has a formal law report. If a judgment is not reported in a law report series, it may still be accessible through by using it neutral citation in Westlaw UK or BAILII (British and Irish Legal Information Institute), a free, official database containing unreported judgments from courts across the UK and Ireland.

Some unreported judgments exist only as court transcripts. You can contact the court directly to request a transcript, though this may take time and could incur a fee.

Accessing Law Reports

You can locate relevant law reports for your assignments and research in Westlaw UK when you search for case law. 

If you are unsure how to access Westlaw UK, please see 'How do I access Westlaw?'

For guidance finding case law, see 'How do I find case law in Westlaw UK?'

The library also holds a print run of the All England Law Reports if you would like to see a physical example of a law report.

Please contact me if you need help finding a particular case or law report.

Related questions