The Law Reports

The Law Reports began in 1865, and are the most authoritative reports of cases in the UK. The Law Reports include the most important judgments from the House of Lords and Privy Council; the Court of Appeal - Criminal and Civil Divisions, the Chancery Division, Family Division, and Queen's Bench Division; the Employment Appeal Tribunal; and the European Courts of Justice.

At present the current series titles of the Law Reports are: 'Appeal Cases' (AC) (which includes judgments from the House of Lords), 'Queen's Bench Division' (QBD), Chancery (Ch) and Family (Fam). Older, discontinued series include Crown Cases Reserved 1865-75 (LR CCR) and Probate, Divorce & Admiralty Division 1891-1970 (P).

Both the Law Reports and the Weekly Law Reports (WLR) are published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporters (ICLR). Judgments that appear in volumes 1 and 2 of the WLRs will be published in the Law Reports, after they have been checked by the judges. The Law Reports are the only reports that include arguments of counsel. The Law Reports also have comprehensive catchwords (which are used to index the cases), headnotes and lists of cases cited during the case and in the judgment.

Where are the Law Reports? Online in Justis, Lexis Nexis and Westlaw; in print at Cw UK 150 L on the main floor of the Bodleian Law Library.

Index to the Law Reports

How to search the subsequent judicial history of a case using the Law Reports Indexes

To find out if a particular judgment has been given judicial consideration in a subsequent judgment:

1. Begin at the volume for the decade in which the judgment was reported, or at 1951, whichever is later.
2. Turn to the Cases judicially considered section (not Cases reported).
3. Find the party names. The example below shows the entry for Esso v Harper [1986] AC 265 in the 1981-90 Index. Between 1981 and 1990, Esso v Harper was applied in Alec Lobb (Garages) Ltd v Total Oil (Great Britain) Ltd [1983] 1 WLR 87, and considered when that judgment went to the Court of Appeal. It was also applied in Bridge v Deacons [1984] AC 705.
4. Repeat this search in subsequent indexes up to the present day. To continue with the example, to find out if Esso v Harper was judicially considered after 1990, check the 1991-2000 index, then each of the soft back supplements that cover the period up to the present time.