Authorised Law Reports

A series of reports which has been given official approval by the judiciary (Council of Law Reporting) is known as an authorised or official series of reports. In each jurisdiction only one series is designated authorised. Cases which enunciate a general principle or point of law are usually included in the authorised series of reports.

Unauthorised series of reports are produced more quickly and many are directed towards satisfying the needs of specialist practitioners. Unauthorised series of reports include many reports of cases which may be published later in an authorised series, however they also include reports which may only be of transient interest, or illustrate the application of authoritative cases.

Few series are mutually exclusive. Cases may appear in several series depending on editorial interest and assessment of the importance of the case. For example High Court decisions are reported in the Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR), Australian Law Reports (ALR) and Australian Law Journal Reports (ALJR). The ALR and ALJR are unauthorised series and the CLR authorised. A decision may be reported in all three series.

An authorised report (if available) should always be cited in preference to an unauthorised report.

Check:

• the library catalogue or Law Library Holdings List for a full list of law reports held by the Law Library
• Electronic case law for law reports available online

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