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Referencing

Case law | AGLC4

Reported case

Footnotes

Rule
Case Name (Year) Volume Law Report Series Starting page, Pinpoint

Rixon v Star City Pty Ltd (2001) 53 NSWLR 98.

Notes

See Rule 2 in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th Edition.

The details which must be included are:

  • Case name (Rule 2.1) - Cite only the first plaintiff and defendant. Use italics for the names of the parties.
  • Year and volume (Rule 2.2.1)
    • Put round brackets around the year for law reports organised by volume number.
    • Put square brackets around the year for reports organised by year (include the volume number in the citation if more than one volume is produced in a year).
    • Note that some reports have changed from one system to the other. For example, for volumes of the Victorian Reports prior to the year 2000, put the year in square brackets; from 2000 onwards use round brackets.
  • Law report series (Rule 2.2.2)
    • Use the abbreviation for the name of the report series, not the full title. The report itself should indicate the relevant abbreviation. Lists of report series and their abbreviations are to be found in Appendix A to AGLC4.
    • The authorised version of the case should be used where available (for example: Commonwealth Law Reports, New South Wales Law Reports.)
  • Starting page (Rule 2.2.4) - Put the page at which the case report begins.
  • Pinpoint (Rule 2.2.5) - Use this when you are referring to a specific page or paragraph of the reported decision. If identifying the particular judge being cited, put their name in round brackets after the pinpoint.

Unreported case (medium neutral citation)

Footnotes

Rule
Case Name [Year] Unique court identifier Judgement number, [Pinpoint]

Qharmby v Keating [2009] TASCC 80, [11].

Notes

See Rule 2.3.1 in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th Edition.

  • Always check (using CaseBase or FirstPoint) to see if the case has been reported. If a reported version is available, use the reported version in preference to the unreported decision.
  • If it is reported in an authorised series, use the authorised reports (for example: Commonwealth Law Reports, Federal Court Reports, Victorian Reports).
  • If the decision is not reported,and you need to use an unauthorised report, use the medium neutral citation, if it is available. 
    • Medium neutral citations were introduced by the courts in the 1990s so that any judgment could be referred to, using a uniform style, no matter what medium it appears in. Most earlier cases do not have medium neutral citations.
    • An exception is the High Court of Australia - all of its reported decisions going back to 1903 have now been given medium neutral citations.
    • If the unreported decision was found on an electronic database, do not cite the database. (The same unreported decisions can often be found on different databases.) The medium neutral citation is sufficient.

The details which must be included are:

  • Case name - Put in italics.
  • Year - Put in square brackets.
  • Unique court identifier - See page 55 of AGLC 4 for a list of unique court identifiers for Australian Supreme and superior Commonwealth courts, and the years in which these courts allocated judgment numbers. See Appendix B of AGLC 4 for a more extensive list.
  • Judgment number - This will be the judgment number allocated by the court for the relevant year.
  • Pinpoint - Refer to the paragraph number of the judgment, not the page number. Use square brackets.

Unreported case (other)

Footnotes

Rule
Case Name (Court, Judge/s, Full date) Pinpoint

Ross v Chambers (Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Kriewaldt J, 5 April 1956) 77-8.

Notes

See Rule 2.3.2 of AGLC 4. Most unreported cases from before the mid-1990s do not have a medium neutral citation. In that case, you must provide the following details:

  • Case name - Put in italics.
  • The name of the court, the name(s) of the judge(s), and the full judgment date - Use round brackets.
  • Pinpoint - In general refer to the page number of the judgment, not the paragraph number. If paragraph numbers are used they should appear in square brackets.
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