It was mentioned earlier that the system of precedent
relies for its efficiency on an effective system of law reporting,
it is appropriate here to say something about the main series
of law reports and how they are cited.
The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting was established
in 1870, and publishes the semi-official Law Reports. Separate
volumes are published each year in respect of cases heard
in the Queen’s
Bench, Family
and Chancery
Divisions of the High
Court and appeals from those courts to the Court of Appeal.
Thus a case may be cited:
Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. [1893] 1 Q.B. 256
This means that the case is reported in the first volume of
the Queen’s Bench Division reports for 1893, and the
report of the case commences at page 256. It is to be noted
that in official citations, the date is shown in square brackets,
rather than round brackets, as it is an essential part of
the citation: it means that the case was reported in 1893,
but it might well have been heard the previous year.
There is a separate series of reports relating to appeals
heard by the House of Lords, which can easily be identified
by the letters A.C. in the citation. Thus a case may be cited:
Adam v. Ward [1917] A.C. 309
This means that the appeal was heard by the House of Lords,
and can be found in the 1917 volume, the report of the case
starting at page 309.
Another important series of law reports commonly used at the
present day is the All England Reports, which started in 1936.
This is a private series of reports which is highly respected.
The series includes reports of cases heard in various courts.
Thus a case is cited:
Beech v. Reed Corrugated Cases Ltd [1956] 2 All E.R. 652
This means that the report of the case is to be found in the
second volume of the All England Reports for 1956, the report
starting on page 652. The reference does not indicate the
court in which the case was heard, but the report itself makes
this clear.
There are various other current series of reports, the most
important of which, from the point of view of the insurance
student, is Lloyd’s Reports, which specialise in reporting
commercial cases. Before 1870 there were a large number of
series of private reports. It is unnecessary here to give
any detail about these, if only because few if any of these
reports would be available for consultation.
An easy way to keep abreast of new case law is to read the
brief reports of cases which appear daily in The Times newspaper
while the courts are in session. On the other hand, the reports
of ‘newsworthy’ cases which appear in the popular
press are, from the point of view of the law student, of minimal
value and are often misleading.
See also:
History
of Precedent
Judicial
Precedent Case Law
Rules
of Precedent: Civil Courts
Advantages
and Disadvantages of Precedent
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