English Cases and Statutes

Introduction

Prior to 1865, there was no official series of law reports. Even today, the UK government does not publish an official reporter. However, both its Courts and the Bluebook suggest citing to the English Reports for pre-1865 cases whenever possible. After 1865, cite to the official Law Reports. Other reporters, such as the Weekly Law Reports and the All England Law Reports, may be used if a case has not been reported in the Law Reports.

Case reporters

Historical reporters

 

Current reporters

 

 

 

Case Finding

 

  • Halsbury's Laws of England. An authoritative encyclopedia of law in England and Wales with 52 main volumes arranged by subject, several indexes, and updating services; it is particularly useful to find the most important cases, legislation, and commentary in a particular area of law. The major English legal Encyclopedia - it covers all areas of English law and is a useful starting point for virtually any research project. Halsbury's Laws includes a consolidated index. This index will refer you to a volume and paragraph number. Halsbury's Laws includes a consolidated index. This index will refer you to a volume and paragraph number. Halsbury's contains many citations to cases. Morris Call Number:  KD310 .H34, Halsbury's Laws of England Online.
  • The Digest, summarizes 400,000 cases and organizes them topically. It can be searched by case name or it can be searched for cases revolving around a particular topic. Please note that the Digest index can be difficult to use. Morris Call Number: KD296 .E5.

 

 

Citators

 

  • Current Law Citators (Case, Legislation, Yearbook). 1947-date. Case citator Morris Call Number: KD 296 .C84.
  • LawCite is an international case citator. The LawCite database is generated on an entirely automatic basis with no editorial input and includes a fairly complete collection of all common law cases cited in the past decade plus most of the important uncited decisions before this. Please note that this is an Alpha Version. It is still being built and refined and is being released for public comment only. LawCite

 

 

Prior to 1865, there was no official series of law reports. Even today, the UK government does not publish an official reporter.  However, both its Courts and the Bluebook suggest citing to the English Reports for pre-1865 cases whenever possible.  After 1865, cite to the official Law Reports.  Other reporters, such as the Weekly Law Reports and the All England Law Reports, may be used if a case has not been reported in the Law Reports.

Dates“Reporter”Where to Find Reporter
1066 – 1199Placita Anglo-Normannica: English Law Suits from William I to Richard IMorris Call Number: KD 578 .P53 1970, HeinOnline
1217-1240Bracton’s Note BookMorris Call Number: KD 190 1217
1268 – 1292Earliest English Law ReportsMorris Call Number: KD 532 .A73 P83
1272 – 1535The Year BooksMorris Call Number: KD 194 1307 and Online Siepp’s Abridgement
Various YearsSelden Society PublicationsHeinOnline, Morris (search for “Selden Society” as the author)
1378 – 1865English Reports, Full ReprintMorris Call Number KD270 1220 E53, Hein Online, CommonLII, LLMC Digital, Westlaw.
1558 – 1935All England Law Reports, Reprint (very selective)Morris Call Number: KD 288 .A6, Lexis
1785 – 1866Revised ReportsMorris Call Number: RB R32, Hein Online
1813 - 1865English Common Law ReportsMorris Call Number: RB En41
1865 – presentThe Law Reports
(Divided into Courts - Queen’s Bench (QB), Chancery (Ch) and Family (Fam) Divisions of the High Court and Court of Appeal, references to the European Court of Justice, and Appeal Cases (AC) heard in the UK Supreme Court and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.)		Morris Call Numbers: KD 275 et seq. Online via the ICLR Online Library, ICLR Online Library.
1843 (1859) – 1947Law Times Reports (merged with the All England Reports)Morris Call Number: RB L44, Lexis Plus > International > England and Wales
1947 – presentAll England Law ReportsMorris Call Number: KD288 .A64, Lexis Plus > International > England and Wales
1953 – presentWeekly Law ReportsMorris Call Number: KD 282 , ICLR Online.

See also Justis VLex; Westlaw UK

Publication of Statutory Material in England

Statutes are published chronologically and there is no official codification or official topical arrangement of English statutes; however, there are tools that will direct people to the Acts that regulate in topical areas, and there are other tools that will tell a user if an Act or part of and Act is still in force.

 

Sources of Statutes

  • Statutes of the Realm (1235-1713). Authoritative collection of the text of the statutes passed by the Parliament of England between 1235 and 1707 as well as the statutes passed by the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and the death of Queen Anne in 1713. Available on Hein Online and Morris Call Number: KD 130 .G74 1993.
  • Statutes at Large (1215-1800/1867). Two major editions published in the late 18th and early 19th centuries started by and colloquially named for Owen Ruffhead (14 volumes) and Danby Pickering (46 volumes). Contains the text of the statutes in parallel Latin and modern English with minor annotations. Predecessor editions with the same names were published earlier in the 18th century. Digitized versions can be found at the Internet Archive and Hathi Trust and Morris Call Number: KD 130 1225.
  • The Public General Acts and Measures (1798 to date). Contains the text of the statutes. Morris Call Number: KD124 .G74.
  • Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales. Topical arrangement of statutes currently in force. The statutes are annotated. There is a detailed subject Index, cumulative supplements, a current service, and the noter up service (a tool similar to a citator). Morris Call Number: KD135.H3 G74 1985.

 

Online Sources

 

Finding Tools and Tools to Determine Whether an Act has been Amended or is Still in Force

 

Bills

 

Statutory Instruments

Statutory instruments contain the results of delegated authority. Parliament may delegate authority, usually to a Minister of the Crown, to legislate in a limited area. The results of this grant are published in statutory instruments.