Legal cases are reported in law reports.
The titles of law report series and law journals are often represented as abbreviations in references for legal materials (e.g. WLR for Weekly Law Reports).
If the case was heard before 2001 it will not have a neutral citation, so use Option 1.
If a case was heard after 2001 it will have a neutral citation, so use Option 2.
Legal abbreviations
Use the free online resource, Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations to find the preferred abbreviation, or to interpret an abbreviation.
You will need:
Format:
Party names (year) volume number abbreviation for name of report and first page of report
Example:
R v Edward (John) (1991) 1 WLR 2017
In-text citation: The case of R v Edward (John) (1991) ….
Neutral citations
Neutral citations were introduced in the UK in 2001 for judgments from all divisions of the High Court. This is so the judgment of the case can be written up quickly for online resources.
If the case is important, the details and commentary will be published months later in a law report. You must include both the neutral citation and the law report details in your reference.
You will need:
Format:
Party names [year] abbreviation of court and case number, (year) volume number abbreviation for name of report and first page of report
Example:
Joseph v Spiller [2010] UKSC 53, (2011) 1 AC 852
In-text citation: The case of Joseph v Spiller [2010] …
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