ICLR - The Law Reports series
The modern system of law reporting began in 1865 when a Council was set up to publish the decisions of the superior courts; in 1870 this became the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. This official ICLR series is known as 'The Law Reports'.
They offer detailed coverage of the leading cases and appeals case reports from Queen’s Bench (QB), Chancery (Ch) and Family (Fam) Divisions of the High Court and Court of Appeal, references to the European Court of Justice, and Appeal Cases (AC) heard in the UK Supreme Court and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
The distinctive benefit of The Law Reports is that the case reports normally include a summary of counsel’s argument, prepared by the reporter who attended the hearing, and approved by counsel prior to publication.
Citations should normally include the year, volume number (where applicable), the abbreviation for the series, and the page number at which the report starts, e.g. [1969] 1 Q.B. 38
These official series should normally be cited in preference to any other series of law reports. These are reports are available via Lexis and Westlaw and also in print in the Lasok Law Library
Other series of law reports
In addition to the official Law Reports series there are many other series of law reports.
Some are general series such as:
Others are specialist series such as: