Citing a legal reference
You should include the following elements, depending on the type of legal publication you want to cite. The exact style will vary according to the citation system you are using.
Proceedings of the House of Commons
- Hansard HC
- Date of proceedings
- Column number
Example
Hansard HC, 12 June 1995, coll.493-4
An Act of the House of Commons
- Name
- Year
Example
Companies Act 1985
A point in an Act
- Name
- Year
- Section
Example
Companies Act 1985, s. 6
Case report
- Claimant(plaintiff) v defendant, in civil cases, or the Crown v defendant, in criminal cases
- Year in brackets – in square brackets, if it is needed to find the volume of law reports, or in round brackets, if the volumes are numbered consecutively throughout the series of law reports
- Volume number, if it is so numbered
- Abbreviation of the series of law reports
- Page number, on which the case report starts, or, case number
Examples
Civil cases
Booth v Phillips [2004] 1 W L R 3292
Hoare v National Trust (1999) 77 P & C R 366
Criminal cases
R v Dica [2004] Q B 1257
R v Thornton [1992] 1 All E R 306
Case number reference
R v Bentham [2005] 2 Cr App R 11
Case reports - family, judicial review, probate, shipping
Some different forms of case names appear in family, judicial review, probate, and shipping cases.
Examples
Family
P v BW [2004} Fam 22
V v V (Financial Relief) [2005] 2 F L R 697
Judicial Review
R (Wiliamson and others) v Secretary of State for Education and Employment [2005] 2 A C 246
Probate
Re Berger (decd) [1990] Ch 118
Shipping
The Charlotte C [2005] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 626
Case reports - neutral citations
From 2001 neutral citations were, also, assigned to cases. This form of citation is not tied to any series of law reports. It includes:
- Year
- Court abbreviation
- Division of Court abbreviation
- Case number
- Division of Court abbreviation, if not before case number
Examples
Aaron v Shelton [2004] EWHC 1162 (QB)
Eyeson v Milton Keynes CC [2005] EWHC 1160
Marcic v Thames Water Utilities Ltd [2002] EWCA Civ 64
R v Dietschmann [2003] UKHL 10
Guide to legal abbreviations
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Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
Consult this source to find authorised abbreviations for legal sources eg All England Law Reports may be referred to as All ER or A.E.L.R. It also gives details of other books on how to cite legal documents.