LibGuides: Law: Finding Case Law

Case Law in action

The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting (ICLR) began publishing The Law Reports in 1865. The Law Reports are the most authoritative series of law reports and should always be cited in Court in preference to any other law report series.

This short film produced by the ICLR highlights why it is important to use the most authoritative law report.

Watch this short film from the ICLR to find out how legal professionals find case law.

This short film follows one of the legal reporters for the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting as he attends court and prepares the report of a case for publication in print and on the Internet.

UK Courts

HM Courts & Tribunal Service Her Majesty’s Court Service deals with over 95% of criminal cases.
Scottish Courts Open access - no username and password required.
The Northern Ireland Court Service The Northern Ireland Court Service (the Court Service) was established in 1979, by the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978, as a separate civil service in Northern Ireland. It is the Lord Chancellor's department in Northern Ireland.
The Supreme Court The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases. It hears appeals in criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population. Open access - no username and password required.

UK Case Law - Information Portals

British & Irish Institute of Legal Information (BAIILI) Access to the most comprehensive set of British and Irish primary legal materials that are available for free on the internet. Covers over 76 databases covering 7 jurisdictions. Provides a link to World Collections (WorldLII), Australia (AUTLII), Canada (CANLII), Hong Kong (HKLII) and Pacific Islands (PacLII).
House of Lords Judgments From 1838 to present day; judgments are available 2 hours after they are handed down. Open access - no username and password required.
Scottish Council of Law Reporting The Scottish Council of Law Reporting, a “not for profit” charitable company limited by guarantee, was established by the Scottish legal profession to manage publication of Session Cases and other materials intended to help promote the best practice of Scots law. The Council’s membership includes representatives of the Scottish judiciary, Scottish advocates and Scottish solicitors.
ICLR Cases From the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.

Finding cases in the Law Reference Collection

Fisher v Bell [1960] 3 WLR 919

To find this particular case in the Law Reference Collection, you need to:

Find out what the abbreviation of the law report title stands for. You can use the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations. In this instance, the abbreviation of the law report title is W.L.R which stands for the Weekly Law Reports.
To find the Weekly Law Reports on the Library shelves you will need to go to the 3rd floor of the Library and locate the Law Reference Collection. Law reports are kept in alphabetical order by title in the section of the Law Reference Collection so this title will be shelved under ’340 WEE’.
Find the year 1960, and volume 3 for that year. Look at page number 919. You should see the case Fisher v Bell.