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United Kingdom case law

Photo of london at nightUnited Kingdom case law

The authorised United Kingdom Law Reports series, published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting, is only available in the ICLR database. This series is comprised of the King's Bench, Chancery, Family and Appeal Cases subdivisions; however others existed in the past. This series includes case citations with the abbreviations QB, KB, AC, Ch, App Cas, Ch D, Ex, Ex D, Fam, PC, P, QB, QBD etc.

There are also various unauthorised UK law reports series.

UK case law resources

Use ICLR to find authorised UK case law

Find UK cases by citation/name

  • Enter the citation into the Citation/Reference search box, eg [1932] AC 562.
  • Alternatively, search using the Case Name option, eg Donoghue v Stevenson.
  • Click on the linked authorised report series citation to access the full case. Clicking on the case name will display research information about the case.
  • Use the download icon above the case to open and save the PDF version.

Find UK cases by party name or topic

Enter search terms into the catchwords or full text search boxes and refine by date, court etc, as appropriate.

Alternatively, try the browse option.

Thomson Reuters Westlaw Classic includes various unauthorised UK law reports series, eg English Reports (ER), Fleet Street Reports (FSR), Session Cases – Scotland (SC), Criminal Appeal Reports (Cr App R) and British Company Cases (BCC).

Find UK cases by citation

  • Enter the case citation into the search box on the database entry page & click search/enter, eg [2000] FSR 718.
  • The Case Analysis page shows research information about the case, similar to CaseBase/KeyCite for Australian cases, eg case digest/summary, cases cited and citing, legislation cited and references to legal writings.
  • Click on the linked citation to view the full case.
     

Find UK cases by party name or topic

  • Enter United Kingdom Cases into the main search box on the database entry page and select the corresponding suggestion that appears.

OR

  • Select International Materials on the database entry page → Jurisdiction: United Kingdom → All United Kingdom Cases.

Then enter search terms into the search box or select the advanced search for more options. The first part of the below video demonstrates how to search for UK cases on a topic.

Westlaw Classic: Finding International Materials (Thomson Reuters, 2021) <https://support.thomsonreuters.com.au/product/westlaw-classic-0/video/westlaw-classic-finding-international-materials-219-min>.

Lexis+ Australia

  • Search by UK case citation, name or topic keywords in the general search box and change the AUS jurisdiction to the United Kingdom using the drop-down arrow.
  • View a list of included UK case law reports series using Explore → United Kingdom → View All Publications → Narrow By Content → UK Cases. For example, All England Law Reports [All ER].
  • CaseBase Cases provides research and summary information about significant UK cases.

Lexis Advance US Research

  • Select Explore Content → International → United Kingdom → All United Kingdom Cases.
  • Search by citation, case name or topic keywords in the general search box or select Advanced Search for more options.
  • The Case Overview page provides research information about the case. Click on a linked case citation to access the full case.

Other UK case law sources

Other UK case law sources

Below is a selection of other sources for accessing UK case law.

HeinOnline has a user guide for the English Reports.

 

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