Leeds Harvard: Law report
Reference examples
Parties in the case [Year] Abbreviation of law report Page.
The examples below follow the accepted conventions for referencing law reports.
If the year is crucial to identify the report, enclose it in square brackets.
Example:
Jones v Smith [1934] All ER 123.
If the law report has a volume number, and so the year is not crucial to find the case, enclose it in round brackets:
Parties in the case (Year) Volume number Abbreviation of law report Page.
Example:
R. v Williams (1992) 2 WLR 32.
Citation examples
Law report
The first time that you cite a case in the main body of your text, refer to it in full, including the parties in the case, abbreviation of the law report and page number.
Example:
In the case of Jones v Smith [1934] All ER 123, the defence noted ...
Unless it would not be clear to which case you are referring, any subsequent citations need only refer to the parties in the case.
Example:
The judgement in the case of Jones v Smith shows ...
Common issues
When you're referencing with Leeds Harvard you may come across issues with missing details, multiple authors, edited books, references to another author's work or online items, to name a few. Here are some tips on how to deal with some common issues when using Leeds Harvard.
Skip straight to the issue that affects you:
- Online items
- URL web addresses
- Multiple authors
- Editors
- Corporate author(s) or organisation(s)
- Multiple publisher details
- Editions and reprints
- Missing details
- Multiple sources with different authors
- Sources written by the same author in the same year
- Sources with the same author in different years
- Two authors with the same surname in the same year
- The work of one author referred to by another
- Anonymising sources for confidentiality
- Identifying the authors’ family name (surname)