Law Reports

A law report is a written account of a court proceeding and judicial decision. Generally, these decisions are first printed in temporary paperback volumes, and then printed in hardbound law report volumes.

The Law Reports are available from the Law Library, alongside many other series supplied by private publishers. However, Lord Woolf CJ handed down a practice direction in 2001 in relation to neutral citation and judgments which stated:

Practice Direction (Judgments: Form and Citation) (Supreme Court) [2001] 1 WLR 194

Citation of judgments in court
3.1 For avoidance of doubt, it should be emphasised that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal require that where a case has been reported in the official Law Reports published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales it must be cited from that source. Other series may only be used when a case is not reported in the Law Reports.

Lord Woolf CJ


The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR) publishes the most authoritative law reports in the UK.

The History of the ICLR is available here. The history of law reporting is covered in this short film, dating from medieval times through to the establishment of the ICLR in 1865.

Making Legal History, available here, shows which cases are reported and why. It goes on to show how a law report is made starting from the courtroom hearing to final publication in print and on the Internet.

Meet the Editors of the ICLR's Law Reports here.

This instructive film gives a brief introduction on a variety of ways of conducting case law research using both print and online resources.

The Law Library Staff are more than happy to assist you with your legal research technique, based either in print or online. Call into the Law Library or email us:
lib-law@ncl.ac.uk