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Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th Edition

Guidance on using the Australian Guide to Legal Citation referencing style

Reported cases

Reported cases

See AGLC Part II — Domestic Sources > 2 Cases > rule 2.2

 

A reported case is a decision that is published in a law report series. The Australian Guide to Legal Citation ('AGLC') states that an authorised version of a case law report should be used in preference to other versions if available.
 

Elements

Case Name Year Volume Law Report Series Abbreviation Starting Page Number Pinpoint (Judicial Officer/s)
Kartinyeri v Commonwealth (1998) 195 CLR  337 , 383 (Gummow and Hayne JJ).
R v Graham [2017] 1 Qd R 236 , 252 (McMurdo JA).
  • Case name — italicise party names
  • Year — a law report series may be organised by either:
    • volume number - the year appears in parentheses and represents the year in which the case was decided, eg (1998)
      or
    • year - the year appears in square brackets and represents the year that the case was published in that law report series, eg [2017]
  • Volume number — there may not be a volume number for law report series organised by year
  • Law report series abbreviation - see the Law Subject Guide for legal abbreviation help
  • Starting page number — the number that the case report starts on (some CCH report series use a unique reference instead, eg ¶93-198)
  • A pinpoint reference is not required if referring to a case as a whole. A pinpoint reference is required if referring to information from a specific page/s in the decision:
    • the pinpoint reference is usually to a page number/s
    • a paragraph number may be added if the law report includes numbered paragraphs
    • use commas to separate multiple pinpoint references within the same case citation
    • see AGLC rules 1.1.6, 1.1.7 and 2.2.5 for formatting and examples
  • If using a pinpoint reference/s, add the relevant judicial officer/s in round brackets at the end of the citation in line with AGLC rule 2.4.1. This is not required if the judicial officer/s is identified in the accompanying text.

 

Examples

1 R v Tang (2008) 237 CLR 1.

2 Bakker v Stewart [1980] VR 17, 22 (Lush J).

3 Andrew Shelton & Co Pty Ltd v Alpha Healthcare Ltd (2002) 5 VR 577, 609 [134] (Warren J).