AGLC4: Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition: Cases

UON library guide to AGLC4: Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition

Cases: General Rules

See more details at AGLC4: 2 Cases
Case law of other countries is not covered in this guide; see AGLC4 Part V: Foreign Domestic Sources

Case Names (AGLC4: 2.1)

A citation to an Australian legal case should include the parties' names in italics, separated by a 'v'

Cite only their surnames for individual parties, eg Kramer v Kramer
Cite only first plaintiff and first defendant if there are multiple parties
Use Commonwealth, New South Wales, Queensland, etc for the Commonwealth and the states or territories
Use 'R' to abbreviate the Crown as the first-named party; use The Queen or The King when the Crown is the respondent, eg

R v Reid [2007] 1 Qd R 64

Honeysett v The Queen (2014) 253 CLR 122

Use the name of the ship in an admiralty case
Include the decision no in square brackets for multiple proceedings under the same name, eg Bahr v Nicolay [No 2]
Use full case citations in subsequent references except for popular cases (eg ‘Tasmanian Dam Case’) or other shortened case names
Use ‘Ibid’ to refer to a source in the immediately preceding footnote, including any pinpoints
The case name should be omitted in a footnote citation if the case name appears in full in the sentence accompanying the footnotes

Law Report Series and Citing Order(AGLC4: 2.2.2)

The authorised version of the report should always be used where available.
The version of a case to be cited should follow the preference order below (from top to bottom):

	Version	Examples
	Authorised report	CLR, FCR, NSWLR, VR,WAR
	Generalist unauthorised report	ALR, AJLR, FLR, ACTR
	Subject-specific unauthorised report	A Crim R, ACSR, IR, IPR
	Unreported (medium neutral citation)	HCA, FCA, NSWSC, VSC
	Unreported (no medium neutral citation)	See rule 2.3.2

Pinpoint References (AGLC4: 2.2.5)

Where a report has both page numbers and paragraph numbers, page numbers should always be included in a pinpoint reference
Where pages and paragraph numbers are included in pinpoint references, both a page number and a paragraph number should be included after ‘ibid’ unless the same page(s) and paragraph(s) are referred to in the ‘ibid’ citation, eg Ibid 404 [32].
For reported decisions, pinpoint references should adhere to rules 1.1.6–1.1.7

Parallel citations (AGLC4: 2.2.7)

Parallel citations should not be used in citations to Australian cases.
Use and cite the most authoritative version available

Cases - Reported

A citation to a reported Australian case should include the parties' names in italics, followed by the year of the report, volume number of the law report series, the abbreviation of the law report series, the starting page of the case, and the pinpoint page number/s in footnote if needed.

Volumes of law report series are organised either by year or by volume number
- Use square brackets when a law report series are organised by year and the year is essential to finding the case, eg

Rowe v McCartney [1976] 2 NSWLR 72

Use round brackets when a law report series are organised by volume number and the year is not essential to finding the case, eg

Alati v Kruger (1955) 94 CLR 216

The following is the general format of a reference to a reported Australian legal case.

See the general rules for cases for more details.

Footnote: Format and Example

Note Number Case Name (Year) Volume No Law Report Abbreviation Starting page, pinpoint page.

Or if the law report series are organised by year

Note Number Case Name [Year] Volume No Law Report Abbreviation Starting page, pinpoint page.

¹Alati v Kruger (1955) 94 CLR 216, 218.

²Kemp v The King (1951) 83 CLR 341, 342.

³Wentworth v Rogers [No 5] (1986) 6 NSWLR 534.

⁴Rowe v McCartney [1976] 2 NSWLR 72.

Bibliography: : Format and Example

Case Name (Year) Volume No Law Report Abbreviation Starting page

Or if the law report series are organised by year

Case Name [Year] Volume No Law Report Abbreviation Starting page

Alati v Kruger (1955) 94 CLR 216

Kemp v The King (1951) 83 CLR 341

Rowe v McCartney [1976] 2 NSWLR 72

Wentworth v Rogers [No 5] (1986) 6 NSWLR 534

Cases - Unreported with Medium Neutral Citation

General rule

A Medium Neutral Citation is a citation system that does not depend on publisher or medium

• Use only when medium neutral citation was court allocated

• Use preferred unique court identifiers (See AGLC4 appendix B)

• Use paragraph numbers for pinpoint references

See the general rules for cases for more details.

Footnote: Format and Example

Note Number Case Name [Year] Unique Court Identifier Judgment Number, [Pinpoint Paragraph No].

¹Quarmby v Keating [2009] TASSC 80, [11].

Bibliography: : Format and Example

Case Name [Year] Unique Court Identifier Judgment Number

Quarmby v Keating [2009] TASSC 80

Cases - Unreported without Medium Neutral Citation

See the general rules for cases for more details.

Unreported Decisions without Medium Neutral Citation

Footnote: Format and Example

Note Number Case Name (Court, Judge/s, Full Date) Pinpoint.

¹Ross v Chambers (Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Kriewaldt J, 5 April 1956) 77–8.

Bibliography: Format and Example

Case Name (Court, Judge/s, Full Date)

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

Proceedings

A proceeding, which may not have any judgements or any orders issued at the time of citation, may be cited as below.

Footnote: Format and Example

Note Number Case Name (Court, Proceeding No, commenced Full Date) Pinpoint.

¹Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v ACN 169418697 Pty Ltd (Federal Court of Australia, VID41/2018, commenced 19 January 2018).

Bibliography: Format and Example

Case Name (Court, Proceeding No, commenced Full Date)

Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v ACN 169418697 Pty Ltd (Federal Court of Australia, VID41/2018, commenced 19 January 2018)

A YouTube video on AGLC4 for Cases created by UTS Library