Law reports covering the decisions of Australian Courts are collections of decisions by particulars courts, subjects or jurisdictions. A widely used guide to case citation in Australia is the Australian Guide to Legal Citation , published jointly by the Melbourne University Law Review and the Melbourne Journal of International Law .
Court / subject | Report | citation | Years | Online | comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
High Court | Commonwealth Law Reports | CLR | 1903- | Thomson Reuters | Authorised report for High Court. Contains most but not all judgments of the High Court and of the Privy Council on appeal from the High Court. |
1903-1959 | Vols 1-100: High Court | Volumes 1 to 100 digitised by the High Court in the OpenLaw 1 to 100 project. | |||
Australian Law Journal Reports | ALJR | 1927- | Thomson Reuters 2002- | High Court and Privy Council decisions. Contains some decisions not reported in the Commonwealth Law Reports | |
Neutral citation | HCA | 1903- | AustLII | ||
Federal Court | Federal Court Reports | FCR | 1984- | Thomson Reuters | Authorised report. |
Neutral citation | FCA | 1977- | AustLII | Includes Full Court decisions 1977-2001 | |
FCAFC | 2002- | AustLII | Earlier Full Court decisions are available as part of the FCA Series | ||
Federal Circuit Court of Australia | Neutral citation | FCCA | 2013- | AustLII | |
Federal Magistrates Court of Australia | Neutral citation | FMCA | 2000-2013 | AustLII | Family law decisions are in the FMCAfam series |
Family Court of Australia | Neutral citation | FamCA | 1976- | AustLII | |
FamCAFC | 2008- | AustLII | Earlier Full Court decisions are available as part of the FamCA Series | ||
Federal Magistrates Court of Australia, family law decisions | Neutral citation | FMCAfam | 2000-2013 | AustLII | General law decisions are in the FMCA series |
Family law | Family Law Cases | FLC | 1976- | CCH | Selected Australian family law decisions of the High Court of Australia, Family Court of Australia, Federal Circuit Court, Family Court of Western Australia and State and Territory Supreme Courts |
Family Law Reports | Fam LR | 1961- | Lexis Nexis | Selected family law decisions from the High Court, Family Courts and State Supreme Courts and Federal Magistrates Court | |
Federal law | Australian Law Reports | ALR | Lexis Nexis | Selected decisions of the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of the states and territories exercising federal jurisdiction | |
Federal Law Reports | FLR | 1961- | Thomson Reuters | Selected decisions from State and Territory Supreme Courts exercising Federal jurisdiction, the Family Court of Australia, the Federal Magistrates Court and Federal tribunals | |
Corporations Law | Australian Company Law Cases | ACLC | 1990- | CCH | Selected decisions of the High Court, Federal Court, State and Territory Supreme Courts, and decisions of the Takeovers Panel |
Australian Corporations and Securities Reports | ACSR | 1989- | Lexis Nexis | Selected decisions of the High Court, Federal Court, State and Territory Supreme Courts | |
Australian Company Law Reports | ACLR | 1974-1989 | |||
Criminal law | Australian Criminal Reports | A Crim R | 1979- | Thomson Reuters | Selected decisions on criminal law by the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of the states and territories |
Industrial law | Commonwealth Arbitration Reports | CAR | 1905-1993 | AustLII | Arbitration decisions of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration and the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission |
Industrial Reports | IR | 1981 | Thomson Reuters | Selected decisions of the High Court, Federal Court, State and Territory Supreme Courts, and Federal and State Industrial Courts and Tribunals | |
Administrative law | Administrative Law Decisions | ALD | 1976- | Lexis Nexis | Selected decisions of the High Court, Federal Court, State and Territory Supreme Courts and administrative tribunals |
Taxation law | Australian Tax Reports | ATR | 1969- | WestLaw (Thomson Reuters) | |
Australasian Tax Reports | 1970-1990 | Butterworths | |||
Property law | Australian & New Zealand Conveyancing Reports | ANZ Conv R | 1979–2008 | CCH | |
NSW Conveyancing Reports | NSW Conv R | 1980–2008 | CCH | ||
Butterworths Property Reports | BPR | 1971- | Butterworths | ||
Supreme Court (ACT) | ACT Law Reports | ACTLR | 2008- | Thomson Reuters | Authorised report. |
Australian Capital Territory Reports | ACTR | 1973- | Lexis Nexis | ||
Neutral citation | ACTSC | 1986- | AustLII | ||
Supreme Court (NSW) | NSW Law Reports | NSWLR | 1970- | New South Wales Law Reports | Authorised report. Includes NSW Court of Appeal and NSW Court of Criminal Appeal |
NSW Reports | NSWR | 1960-1970 | New South Wales Law Reports | ||
State Reports NSW | SR NSW | 1901-1970 | New South Wales Law Reports | ||
1901-1950 | via AustLII | ||||
Law Reports (NSW) | LR (NSW) | 1856–1900 | via AustLII | ||
Weekly Notes (New South Wales) | WN (NSW) | 1884–1987 | |||
Neutral citation | NSWSC | 1995- | caselaw.nsw.gov.au AustLII | Decisions of judges sitting alone | |
NSWCA | 1988 - | caselaw.nsw.gov.au AustLII | Court of Appeal | ||
NSWCCA | 1994- | caselaw.nsw.gov.au AustLII | Court of Criminal Appeal | ||
NSWSupC | 1788-1899 | via AustLII | Decisions of Superior Courts of NSW, includes Court of Civil Jurisdiction (1788-1814) & Supreme Court of Civil Judicature (1814-1823) | ||
Supreme Court (NT) | Northern Territory Law Reports | NTLR | 1991- | Thomson Reuters | Authorised report |
Neutral citation | NTSC | 1986- | AustLII | ||
Supreme Court (Qld) | Queensland Reports | QdR | 1958- | Lexis Nexis 1974- | Authorised report. |
State Reports Queensland | St R Qd | 1902-57 | Thomson Reuters | ||
Neutral citation | QSC | 1994- | AustLII | ||
QCA | 1992- | AustLII | Court of Appeal | ||
Supreme Court (SA) | South Australian State Reports | SASR | 1971- | Thomson Reuters | Authorised report. |
State Reports. South Australia | SASR | 1920-71 | Thomson Reuters | ||
1920-1950 | via AustLII | ||||
South Australian Law Reports | SALR | 1863-1920 | via AustLII | ||
Neutral citation | SASC | 1989- | AustLII | ||
SASCFC | 2010- | AustLII | Court of Criminal Appeal and Full Court of the Supreme Court | ||
Supreme Court (Tas) | Tasmanian Reports | Tas R | 1978- | Thomson Reuters | Authorised report. |
1978-1991 | AustLII | ||||
Tasmanian State Reports | Tas SR | 1941-1978 | AustLII | ||
Tasmanian Law Reports | TLR | 1897-1940 | AustLII | ||
Neutral citation | TASSC | 1995- | AustLII | Decisions of judges sitting alone | |
TASFC | 2010 - | AustLII | Full Court | ||
TASCCA | 2010- | AustLII | Court of Criminal Appeal | ||
TASSupC | 1824-1843 | via AustLII | Decisions of Superior Courts of Tasmania | ||
Supreme Court (Vic) | Victorian Reports | VR | 1953- | Little William Bourke | Authorised report. |
1953-1996 | via AustLII | ||||
Victorian Law Reports | VLR | 1875-1956 | Little William Bourke | ||
Neutral citation | VSC | 1994- | AustLII | ||
VSCA | 1998 - | AustLII | Court of Appeal | ||
Supreme Court (WA) | Western Australian Reports | WAR | 1961- | Thomson Reuters | Authorised report. |
Western Australian Law Reports | WALR | 1899-1959 | via AustLII | ||
Neutral citation | WASC | 1996- | AustLII | ||
WASCA | 1998 - | AustLII | Court of Appeal | ||
Digests | Australian Legal Monthly Digest | ALMD | 1967-1993 | Summaries of significant reported decisions and recent legislative developments | |
A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive without going to courts for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great value on deciding cases according to consistent principled rules, so that similar facts will yield similar and predictable outcomes, and observance of precedent is the mechanism by which that goal is attained. The principle by which judges are bound to precedents is known as stare decisis. Common-law precedent is a third kind of law, on equal footing with statutory law and subordinate legislation in UK parlance – or regulatory law.
Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a case that have been resolved by courts or similar tribunals. These past decisions are called "case law", or precedent. Stare decisis—a Latin phrase meaning "let the decision stand"—is the principle by which judges are bound to such past decisions, drawing on established judicial authority to formulate their positions.
The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Australia's Constitution.
Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case citations are formatted differently in different jurisdictions, but generally contain the same key information.
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Law reports or reporters are series of books that contain judicial opinions from a selection of case law decided by courts. When a particular judicial opinion is referenced, the law report series in which the opinion is printed will determine the case citation format.
The Melbourne University Law Review is a triannual law journal published by a student group at Melbourne Law School covering all areas of law. It is one of two student-run law journals at the University of Melbourne, the other being the Melbourne Journal of International Law. Students who have completed at least one semester of law are eligible to apply for membership of the editorial board. Applicants are assessed on the basis of their performance in a practical exercise, academic aptitude, proofreading skills, editing skills and enthusiasm. The 2021 editors-in-chief are James Gunn, Darcy James and Annie Jiang.
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The Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) is published by the Melbourne University Law Review Association in collaboration with the Melbourne Journal of International Law and seeks to provide the Australian legal community with a standard for citing legal sources. There is no single standard for legal citation in Australia, but the AGLC is the most widely used.
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Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review, may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompatible with a higher authority: an executive decision may be invalidated for being unlawful or a statute may be invalidated for violating the terms of a constitution. Judicial review is one of the checks and balances in the separation of powers: the power of the judiciary to supervise the legislative and executive branches when the latter exceed their authority. The doctrine varies between jurisdictions, so the procedure and scope of judicial review may differ between and within countries.
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