In my last blog post, we looked at the history of law reports in England and Wales and why they are used, as well as how vital they are to an efficient and reliable legal system. In this week’s blog post, we will be continuing to look at law reports, this time considering the many different types that are available in just England and Wales. We will start by looking at the importance of law reports and briefly review their history, then move on to look at some of the law reports that can be used by courts, lawyers and scholars for reference.
So, why are law reports so important? To understand this, you need to consider it in the context of judicial precedents. Common law is made up of judicial precedents, which are decisions that judges make in cases where there is no particular statute that can be used. They come from the speeches judges make, called judgments. These judgments may contain both the ratio decidendi (reason for the decision) and some other things said obiter dicta (along the way). The ratio decidendi is based on the facts of the case and sets a binding precedent that lower courts must follow. Things said obiter dicta relate to hypothetical scenarios and are not binding, but may be persuasive.
Law reports give details of decided cases, with the judges’ statements and therefore the precedents included. The courts and lawyers can then refer back to this to see what the common law is and apply this to the case at hand. Without these, it would be much harder to find out what precedents have already been set to make sure these are followed. This leads to inconsistencies in the law and a lack of certainty for all parties involved in a court case. Judicial precedents also mean the public can look up whether a certain action or inaction would be permitted under common law.
The first Law Reports were in the form of Year Books, dating back to 1275. These were written in Law French, so they are more of historical interest than useful! After this, there were a variety of private reports, which were ones published by private individuals. As you might expect, these varied somewhat in quality. Finally, there are the modern law reports, which are still in use today. These are accurate and released quickly, so they are highly useful for checking precedents.
The Law Reports
The Law Reports are produced by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales and are considered to be the most authoritative law reports of England and Wales. If you have a choice, you should always cite these in preference to any other report. Likewise, courts always cite them if they are available.
The Law Reports are published annually in four different parts, one each for Appeal Cases, Chancery Division, Family Division and King’s/Queen’s Bench. Although they date back to 1865, they have only been published in their modern form since 1891. One of the key advantages of the Law Reports is that they are always looked over by the judges in the case before publication, which reduces the chance of anything being misinterpreted.
Weekly Law Reports
The Weekly Law Reports (WLR) are also published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, dating back to 1953. However, unlike the Law Reports, these do not include the counsel’s argument, as they are produced much more quickly (although not weekly). They also lack the review by judges that the Law Reports have. Nevertheless, they are considered to be a reliable source and are often used in courts where the Law Reports are not available. There are four volumes of WLRs, the cases from the last two of which will also appear in the Law Reports.
All England Law Reports
The All England Law Reports (All ER) are published by Butterworth’s, starting in 1936. Unlike the Weekly Law Reports, they are subject to judicial review, so they can be considered authoritative; indeed, they are the same level as WLR in the law report hierarchy. However, they do not include the counsel’s arguments, so you might need to look at both to get the full picture! The All England Law Reports are released weekly, then gathered together as part of an annual collection.
Periodicals
Periodicals and newspapers can also be used to cite cases where they are not listed elsewhere. For example, both the Solicitors’ Journal and the New Law Journal have cases like this. Broadsheet newspapers may also sometimes have reports that can be cited, provided they have been written by a recognised legal authority.
Specialist Reports
As well as the main law reports that we have already looked at, there are also some specialist reports that focus on specific areas, for example, the Industrial Relations Law Review. These should not be cited in preference to the higher law reports but can be useful for finding niche cases.
Wrapping Up
I hope that this helps you to understand some of the different types of law reports available. In my next blog post, we will be looking at contract law and how a contract is started, so come back in two weeks for that!
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