Cases: England and Wales
Neutral citations, the best report, court identifiers, unreported cases and the pre-1865 nominate reports.
A case citation has up to three parts: the name, the medium neutral citation, and the best report (r 2.1.1). Which parts appear depends on when the case was decided and where it was reported.
The standard modern form
From 2001, judgments carry a neutral citation — court-issued, report-independent. Give it first, then the best report after a comma (r 2.1.3). The report hierarchy is fixed (r 2.1.4): the Law Reports (AC, KB, QB, Ch, Fam, P) first, then the WLR or All ER, then a specialist series.
Case name [year] court number, [year] volume report page.
Older reported cases: the court identifier
A case without a neutral citation needs the court identified in brackets at the end (r 2.1.5): (HL), (PC), (CA), (QBD), (Ch D), (Fam). Never give both a neutral citation and a court identifier. Cases decided before 1865 take no identifier at all.
Unreported and newspaper-reported cases
An unreported case with a neutral citation just uses it. Without one — always the case before 2001 — give the court and the date in brackets, and never write the word ‘unreported’ (r 2.1.4). A case reported only in a newspaper cites the paper and date.
Before 1865: nominate reports
Judgments before 1865 live in the nominate reports, most of them reprinted in the English Reports. Cite both, comma-separated — semicolon-separated when there are pinpoints (r 2.1.9).
History and alternative names
Affirmations and reversals follow the first citation with affd or revd (r 2.1.8); a case reported under a different name takes sub nom. A case with a well-known nickname can define it in the first footnote and use it afterwards.
Related Index entries
Reported caseOlder reported case (no neutral citation)Unreported caseCase reported in a newspaperPre-1865 case (nominate reports)Yearbook or manuscript caseLast reviewed 7 August 2026