Law Reports
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Law reports and cases
Not every case is reported. For example, in England and Wales, of the 200,000 or so cases heard annually, only about 2,500 are published (around 1.25 percent). Of these only about 175 appear in the Law reports - the most authoritative series of law reports in England and Wales. A case is usually reported for one or more of the following reasons:
it makes new law. it includes a modern judicial restatement of existing law. it clarifies conflicting decisions of the lower courts. it interprets legislation of potentially wide application. it interprets a commonly found clause - eg in a will or a contract. it clarifies an important point of practice or procedure.
Case names
Usually cited as Pursuer v. Defender (Claimant v. Defendant in England and Wales). Names are reversed on appeal (Appellant v. Respondent). In Scottish criminal cases in the higher courts, the normal form is H.M.Advocate v. ...; in England and Wales it is R. v. ... The entry in lists or tables of cases is normally by Pursuer (Claimant) or Appellant.
Citing cases
Example: McGowan v. Brown [1977] 1 W.L.R. 1403
In this example,
the Claimant is McGowan and the Defendant is Brown; 1977 is the year in which it was reported; 1 means volume 1; W.L.R. is the abbreviation for Weekly law reports; 1403 is the page reference; square brackets [] indicate that the date is a key part of the citation.
Note: Most series of law reports give an example of how a case should be cited. See the introduction at the front of the report.
Finding cases - by name of party
In most instances, citation is by the name of the pursuer or plaintiff (E&W), or appellant if the case has gone to appeal. The most useful starting point is the case citators:
Scottish current law case citator 1948-1976 Scottish current law case citator 1977-1997 Current law case citator 1998-2001 Current law monthly digest Dec.2002 (Table of cases) Current law monthly digest 2003 latest issue (Table of Cases)
Together these citators (or indexes) provide references to all cases reported during the period stated, plus references to earlier cases if they have been referred to in cases reported since 1948. It is possible to check the judicial history of a case, for example, if it has been considered, applied, overruled etc since it was first reported. Note that in the citators, English cases are listed before Scottish cases.
Individual series of law reports often have their own indexes, e.g. The All England law reports, Scots law times (1961-1990, 1991-1997). Textbooks on specific subjects will have tables of relevant cases. The Times index, located in the Journals section of Craiglockhart Campus Library, has cases listed by both parties under the heading 'Law reports'.
See also Westlaw, Lexis Nexis Butterworths and LAWTEL
Finding cases - by subject
Check up to date textbooks on the subject - they should have tables of cases. Indexes to individual sets of law reports often have a subject index, e.g. Industrial relations law reports. Legal Journals Index on Westlaw Current law monthly digest and yearbook. Check the contents pages and indexes. The Stair memorial encyclopedia: the laws of Scotland is an excellent starting point for research into Scots law. Arrangement is by subject and significant cases are cited. Updating works, e.g. Garners environmental law (REF 344.10446 GAR) often contain tables of cases.
Current awareness
To keep up to date with changes in the law, look at Current law monthly digest and European current law monthly digest. Also check any updating services relevant to the area law being researched. Lawtel is updated daily. Current Awareness on Westlaw is updated 3 times a day. Material is held on a rolling 90 day basis
