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Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th Edition

Guidance on using the Australian Guide to Legal Citation referencing style

Medium neutral citation

Unreported cases with a medium neutral citation

See AGLC Part II — Domestic Sources > 2 Cases > rule 2.3.1

 

According to the Australian Guide to Legal Citation ('AGLC'), an unreported version of a case should only be cited if a reported version is not available. An unreported case is a decision which has not been published in a law report series. Nowadays, unreported judgments use a medium neutral style as shown below.

Before citing an unreported version of a case, search for the case in the Westlaw Australia or Lexis+ Australia law database to confirm there are no reported versions.
 

Elements

Case Name [Year] Court Abbreviation Judgment number  [Pinpoint] (Judicial Officer/s)
Quarmby v Keating [2009] TASSC 80 , [11] (Slicer J).
  • Party names are italicised
  • Year appears within square brackets
  • Court abbreviation as outlined in AGLC rule 2.3.1
  • Judgment number as assigned by the court
  • 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 part in the decision. Pinpoints are to paragraph number/s enclosed in square brackets, and are separated from the judgment number by a comma and a space
  • 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.
     

Example

1 Tropac Timbers Pty Ltd v A-One Asphalt Pty Ltd [2005] QSC 378, [19] (Muir J).

Without medium neutral citation

Unreported cases without a medium neutral citation

See AGLC Part II — Domestic Sources > 2 Cases > rule 2.3.2

 

Courts began assigning medium neutral citations in the 1990's/2000's - see the table in AGLC 2.3.1. Use the below format for unreported cases decided before this time.
 

Elements

Case Name (Court, Judge/s, Full Date) Pinpoint (Judicial Officer/s)
McCarthy v W (Supreme Court of Queensland, Court of Appeal, Fitzgerald P, Pincus JA and Thomas J, 16 December 1993) 12 (Thomas J).
  • Party names are italicised
  • Elements appear within parenthesis (Full name of the court, Name of the judicial officer/s, Full judgment date)
  • Where pinpoints are required, they are generally page numbers
  • Judicial officer/s is not required for a pinpoint reference if the case was heard by a single trial judge (rule 2.4.1).
     

Example

2 Barton v Chibber (Supreme Court of Victoria, Hampel J, 29 June 1989) 3.