Researching United Kingdom Law: Statutes, Cases & Parliamentary Materials

Sources for Legislation

British statutes, unlike Canadian statutes, are not periodically consolidated, which makes their use somewhat complicated. If your research involves a British statute, you will want to locate the original statute, and all subsequent amending statutes, which must be read together to give you the statute in its current form. 

The hard copy statutes have call numbers beginning Stats-G.B. and they are shelved in the compact storage area on the ground floor of the library. This area includes the Statutes of England, Scotland and Ireland.

For statutes for the period 1235 to 1713, consult the volumes entitled Statutes of the Realm (Stats-G.B. A2) (except for the period 1642-1660). The library also has various series of Statutes at Large such as Hawkins Statutes at Large (Stats-G.B. B24) or Ruffhead’s Statutes at Large (Stats-G.B. B28). Although the coverage of the series, Statutes at Large, overlaps with that of Statutes of the Realm, the text contained in Statutes of the Realm is the official version for the period 1235 to 1713. Note that the text can vary between the two series.

For statutes for the period 1714 to 1984, consult the volumes in the series variously entitled Public General Statutes (Stats-G.B. B54) or Law Reports, Statutes (Stats.G.B. D42).  For U.K. Statutes after 1984, see Current Law Statutes Annotated (Stats-G.B. D52). 

Since amendments are not consolidated with the statute, you must locate these amendments separately. To do so, consult the Chronological Table of the Statutes (Stats-G.B. H17) which lists all statutes passed and notes under each of any later act which has amended it. The statutes are listed according to the year they were passed.

An alternative to using the semi-official volumes discussed above is provided by Halsbury's Statutes (Stats-G.B. E24) , a commercial publication. It is particularly useful for finding out what British Acts of Parliament deal with a particular subject. Publication of the fourth edition was completed in 1989 (a number of volumes have been reissued since). Halsbury's Statutes consists of 50 main volumes that contain annotations of statutes organized by subject.

Electronic Databases

The following databases provide access to United Kingdom legislation, access is restricted to Osgoode Hall Law School and York Unversity faculty and students only:

Sources for UK Case law

Full-text British court decisions date back hundreds of years. The publishing of British case law therefore has a long and somewhat complicated history.  The following is a brief overview of how British case law is reported.

• The English Reports REP-G.B. A4 C64 Vols. 1-178.

Prior to 1865, most law reporting in England was done by private reporters whose reports bore their names.  They thus became known as the nominate reports.  Hundreds of different series were published between the end of the fifteenth century and 1865.  Most of them are reprinted in a 178 volume set called the English Reports, cited E.R. The library also subscribes to a web-based version of the English Reports.  The link is found by searching “English reports” in the catalogue. 

If you are given the name of the case, consult the last two volumes of the English Reports.  These volumes contain an index of cases that were decided before 1867.  Beside the case name you will find the citation of the case in the original nominate reporter.  On the opposite side of the page is the volume number of the E.R. in which the case can be found.

If you are given the original nominate citation of the case and want to locate where it has been reprinted in the E.R., first consult the index chart. A copy of the chart entitled “English Reports Wall Chart”, is hanging up at the end of the shelf where these reports are kept.  Find the abbreviation of the nominate reporter on the chart.  For example, if you were given the citation Harrison v. Courtauld, 1 Russ. & M. 428, you would locate the abbreviation of the old reporter and discover that it stands for Russell and Mylne.  The chart also indicates in which volume of the E.R. the relevant nominate reporter is reprinted. Turn to the E.R. volume indicated by the chart.  In the upper corner of each page you will see the original citation for the reported case.  Find the citation of the old reporter and locate the page number given in the original citation.

• The Law Reports (Rep-G.B. B6 etc.)

In 1865, the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales began its publication of the semi-official Law Reports, which contain reports of the decisions of the superior courts.  From 1865 to 1876 there were eleven series organized by subject jurisdiction, as listed below:

The Supreme Court of Judicature Act, 1873, came into effect in 1875 and brought together in one Supreme Court the administration of common law and equity, as well as probate, divorce, and admiralty.

The Supreme Court (or the High Court of Justice) was composed of five divisions (Chancery, Common Pleas, Exchequer, Queen's Bench and Probate, Admiralty and Divorce). The Supreme Court also included a Court of Appeal. Accordingly, the number of series in the Law Reports was reduced to six in 1876. The abbreviation "L.R." in the citation of each was dropped.

These six series are:

In 1891 the Law Reports were re-organized into four series, and the method of citation was changed from volume number to year of publication, which appears in square brackets.

The Administration of Justice Act, 1970 changed the allocation of cases to the divisions of the High Court of Justice and, in 1972, the Probate Division was replaced by the Family Division, cited [year] Fam.

The Chancery Division exercises jurisdiction over administration of estates, redemption and foreclosure of mortgages, rectification and cancellation of deeds, specific performance of contracts for the sale or lease of interests in land, winding-up of companies, bankruptcy, landlord and tenant disputes, and contentious probate matters. The jurisdiction of the Queen's Bench Division is wider than that of Chancery and Family and includes tort, contract, commercial and criminal matters, contentious probate, and admiralty. The Family Division has jurisdiction over matrimonial cases, wardship and non-contentious probate.

The A.C. series contains reports of cases decided by the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Prior to the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council from the Supreme Court of Canada in 1949, Canadian appeals to the Privy Council were reported in this series.

In general, the House of Lords hears appeals of civil and criminal matters. The jurisdiction of the Privy Council includes hearing appeals from the highest courts of a number of independent Commonwealth countries, certain admiralty matters, and appeals from ecclesiastical courts and medical tribunals. Cases from the Court of Appeal are not found in the A.C. series, as one might expect, but are found in one of the other three, according to the nature of the case.

• Weekly Law Reports REP-G.B. B6 W4

The Weekly Law Reports, published weekly by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, provides reports of cases more promptly than the Law Reports . Thus you should consult the weekly paperback issues of the W.L.R. for the most recent cases.

The first part of each paperback issue, cited [year] 1 W.L.R., contains cases that will not be later reported in the Law Reports but may be reported elsewhere, for example, in the All England Reports. Such cases are considered worth reporting but may not raise any new point of law.

The second part of each issue, cited [Year] 2 W.L.R. for the first half of the calendar year, contains cases that will be reported in the Law Reports. The Weekly Law Reports do not contain arguments of counsel, as the Law Reports do.

The index on the front page of the paperback W.L.R. issues indicates the cases printed in that issue, as well as the volume and page number of the bound W.L.R. in which that case will eventually appear. Citations to other reporters are also given.

Each weekly issue contains a "Subject Matter" index which lists general subject matters in bold letters and gives a brief summary and citation of relevant cases found in that issue.

The "Cases Judicially Considered" index lists cases that were judicially considered, the treatment of the case and the considering case that is found in that issue.

• All England Law Reports REP-G.B. B8 A3

The All England Reports, cited [year] All E.R., are published weekly in paperback form. The All England Reports is a commercial series and contains reports of many cases that are not included in the Law Reports. Decisions of English Superior Courts and courts of special jurisdiction are reported in this series. All E.R. began publication in 1936, although it became virtually a complete set of British cases by releasing at the same time volumes containing reprints of selected cases from 1558 onwards.

• Other British Case Law Reporters

In addition to the Weekly Law Reports and the All England Law Reports, there are a number of topical reporters available. Some examples of these reports would be:

• Aspinall’s Maritime Law Cases

• Butterworth’s Workmen’s Compensation Cases

•  Cox’s Criminal Cases

• Criminal Appeal Reports

• Industrial Court Reports

• LLoyds Law Reports

• Reports of Tax Cases

• Reports of Patent Cases

Their call numbers begin with Rep-G.B. and they are shelved in the compact storage on the ground floor of the library in the same area as the other British case law reporters.

Electronic Databases

The following databases provide access to United Kingdom case law, access is restricted to Osgoode Hall Law School and York Unversity faculty and students only: