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The Law Commission Practice Directions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> The Law Commission >> The Law Commission Practice Directions >> Practice Direction PD_14_01_2002 (14 January 2002) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/other/EWLC/PD/2002/PD_14_01_2002.html Cite as: Practice Direction PD_14_01_2002, Practice Direction PD_14_1_2002 |
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Neutral Citations
This Practice Direction is made with the concurrence of the Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers MR, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss P and Sir Andrew Morritt V-C. It covers the extension of the neutral citation arrangements announced in the Practice Direction (Judgments: Form and Citation), issued on 11 January 2001 ([2001 1 WLR 194; [2001] 1 All ER 193)), as foreshadowed in paragraph 2.6 of that Practice Direction.
1. With effect from 14 January 2002 the practice of neutral citation is being extended to all judgments given by judges in the High Court in London. A unique number will be furnished to every such High Court judgment from a register kept at the High Court. A unique number will also be furnished, on request (see below) to High Court judgments delivered by judges outside London.
2. The judgments will be numbered in the following way:
Chancery Division EWHC number (Ch)
Patents Court: EWHC number (Pat)
Queen's Bench Division EWHC number (QB)
Administrative Court EWHC number (Admin)
Commercial Court EWHC number (Comm)
Admiralty Court EWHC number (Admlty)
Technology & Construction Court EWHC number (TCC)
Family Division EWHC number (Fam)
For example, [2002] EWHC 123 (Fam); or [2002] EWHC 124 (QB); or [2002] EWHC 125 (Ch).
3. Under these arrangements, it will be unnecessary to include the descriptive word in brackets when citing the paragraph number of a judgment. Thus paragraph 59 in Smith v Jones [2002] EWHC 124 (QB) would be cited: Smith v Jones [2002] EWHC 124 at [59].
4. There is to be no alteration to the arrangements for the neutral citation of judgments given in the two divisions of the Court of Appeal, where the official shorthand writers will continue to provide the number for the neutral citation.
As indicated above, neutral citations will not be automatically assigned to judgments delivered by judges in the High Court outside London, because they appear much less frequently in published reports. The Mechanical Recording Department, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL (tel: no: 020 7947 7771) will supply a citation for such a judgment to anyone wishing to include it in a published report.
5. Apart from the changes set out above, the rules set out in section 2 of the earlier Practice Direction are still applicable. Brooke LJ, the judge in charge of modernisation, is still responsible for advising the Judges' Council on these matters. Paragraph 4.1 of that Practice Direction remains unchanged.
6. Although the judges cannot dictate the form in which law publishers reproduce the judgments of the court, this form of citation contains the official number given to each judgment which they hope will be reproduced wherever the judgment is republished, in addition to the reference given in any particular series of reports.
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
14th January 2002
