The Law Reports

The Law Reports is the name of a series of law reports published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting.

The Council maintains that they are "'the most authoritative reports' and should always be 'cited in preference where there is a choice'." This series is now divided into four main sub-series:

The number and names of the series have changed. This is partly due to the merger of existing courts, the merger of existing divisions of individual courts, and the creation of new divisions of individual courts. Citation of series has also changed.

The Law Reports were originally divided into eleven series. Glanville Williams said that "roughly speaking" there was a series for each of the superior courts. The series were:

House of Lords, English and Irish Appeals. These reports may be cited thus:

House of Lords, Scotch and Divorce Appeals. These reports may be cited in the following ways:

Privy Council Appeals. These reports may be cited thus:

Chancery Appeal Cases. These reports may be cited in the following ways:

Equity Cases. These reports may be cited thus:

Crown Cases Reserved. These reports may be cited in the following ways:

Queens Bench Cases. These reports may be cited thus:

Common Pleas Cases. These reports may be cited thus:

Exchequer Cases. These reports may be cited thus:

Admiralty and Ecclesiastical Cases. These reports may be cited thus:

Probate and Divorce Cases. These reports may be cited thus:

In 1875, the number of series was reduced to six. This was due to the creation of the High Court and a decision on the part of the publishers, to put the House of Lords, the Privy Council and the new Court of Appeal in the same volume, and to group Crown Cases Reserved and the Queen's Bench Division together. The series were:

There was a change in the mode of citation. The abbreviation "LR" ceased to be used.

Appeal Cases. These reports may be cited thus:

Chancery Division. These reports may be cited thus:

Queens Bench Division. These reports may be cited thus:

Common Pleas Division. These reports may be cited thus:

Exchequer Division. These reports may be cited thus:

Probate Division. These reports may be cited thus:

In 1881, the number of series was reduced to four. This is because the Common Pleas and Exchequer Divisions of the High Court were incorporated in the Queen's Bench Division of that court in 1880:

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