Citing Cases

Cases may be published in multiple publications and with parallel citations. For instance, a case may be published in an authorised law report series, an unauthorised law report series, on the internet using a medium neutral citation, or all three.

When citing a case it is important to select the correct citation to use.

Which Citation Should I Use?

According to AGLC (rule 2.3.1), when a case has more than one citation, you should use the most authoritative version. That is:

• A reported version of a case should be cited in preference to an unreported version.

• Cite from an authorised report series if available: (ie. USE: CLR, FCR, ACTLR, NSWLR, NTLR, Qd R, SASR, Tas R, VR, WAR; RATHER THAN (for example): ALR, ALJR, FLR, Fam LR, NTR etc.

• If the case is not available in an authorised report, use a generalist unauthorised report series (eg. Australian Law Reports) over a subject specific unauthorised series (eg. Australian Torts Reports)

• If the case is unreported use the medium neutral citation (if assigned by the court)

N.B. Appendix C of Catriona Cook et. al., Laying Down the Law (8th ed. 2012) provides a comprehensive list of many law report series and indicates which are the authorised reports of each jurisdiction.

This practice is also expected by the courts. For example, the High Court of Australia states in its Practice Direction No.1 of 2000 - Written Submissions and Authorities that:

The written submission of the appellant shall:

...contain... a citation of the authorised report of the reasons for judgment of both the primary and the intermediate court in the case (or, if there is no authorised report of the decision, the citation of any other report of that decision, and in the absence of any report, the internet citation)

Citing Reported Cases

Cases from law report series should include:

• the parties' names in italics - consult 2.1.1 of the AGLR for full details
• year - round brackets for reports with consecutively numbered volumes
• volume number
• abbreviation of law report series - consult the Legal research guide for more on abbreviations
• starting page
• pinpoint reference - consult 2.5 of the AGLC for full details
• unless it is obvious from the citation, also include the name of the court in round brackets.

Johnstone v Matheson (2008) 21 VR 570

Citing Unreported Cases

When using citing an unreported judgement, the citation should include:

• the parties' names in italics
• the year
• the unique court identifier - consult 2.8.1 of the AGLC for a list of unique court identifiers
• judgement number
• full date
• pinpoint.

Generally, you should only use the medium neutral citation if the case has not been reported, and only when the court itself has assigned the medium nuetral citation.

Task: Try it Yourself!