FAQs
What’s the difference between a law report and a transcript?
The transcript of a judgment is simply a written record of what the court said when giving its reasons for a decision in a case. A law report takes that judgment and wraps it in a more refined document containing additional information designed to assist the reader in finding, understanding and applying the case. Only… Continue reading
What content can I get on ICLR.3?
The ICLR.3 platform provides fast and easy access to all the law reports, digests and case summaries published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR) since its foundation in 1865. It also contains a large and growing number of unreported judgment transcripts and index information relating to many other cases,… Continue reading
Which courts does ICLR cover?
ICLR has reporters, qualified as either solicitors or barristers, covering all three divisions of the High Court, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Court of Appeal, the UK Supreme Court and the Privy Council in London, and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. For a full list, see The Courts We Cover.… Continue reading
What does a subscription to ICLR.3 include?
A subscription to ICLR.3 provides access to one or more of the following of ICLR’s published law report series: The Law Reports (from 1865 to date), The Weekly Law Reports (from 1953), The Industrial Cases Reports (from 1972), The Business Law Reports (from 2007) and The Public and Third Sector Reports (from 2009). Other content… Continue reading
Why are cases in the Weekly Law Reports split into separate volumes in the same part?
The explanation is historical. When launched as a series in 1953, the Weekly Law Reports (WLR) were intended to provide early publication in regular weekly parts of those cases which would eventually appear in the monthly parts of the official Law Reports (AC, Ch, QB or P/Fam volumes). WLR also contained less important cases, covering… Continue reading
What do I call the judge?
What you call a judge depends on how senior they are. The following is a rough guide. Magistrates Call them ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’ in court, or ‘Your Worship’. Address them in correspondence as ‘Mr/Mrs <Full Name> JP’ and begin the letter ‘Dear <Full Name> JP’ District judges Call them ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’ in court. Address them… Continue reading
Can a case be a precedent if it hasn’t been published?
Yes, but it is rare. The doctrine of precedent depends entirely on the court being made aware of the earlier decision by which it is bound. That in turn depends on the earlier case having been in some way published or otherwise publicised. Before the advent of printed law reports, it was not unusual for… Continue reading
Why aren’t ICLR law reports free?
In a common law system such as that of England and Wales, decisions of the senior courts have the potential to make new law. Those decisions should therefore be freely available to the public, who are bound by the law, in the same way as legislation. For this reason, ICLR makes judgment transcripts available free… Continue reading