Law Reports of the Commonwealth

This article is about the law reports for members of the Commonwealth of Nations. For the law reports for Australia, see Commonwealth Law Reports.

The Law Reports of the Commonwealth, abbreviated LRC, are a series of law reports of landmark cases decided in the high and appellate courts of members of the Commonwealth of Nations. The LRC were first published in 1985 and, as of 2022, are published in five volumes each year, in both digital and hard copy formats.

Law Reports of the Commonwealth

Editorial consultant	Michael Kirby
Categories	Law reports
Frequency	Five volumes per annum
Publisher	Butterworths (originally) Professional Books (later) LexisNexis (now)
First issue	1985 (1985)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Website	lexisweb.co.uk

History

The LRC were first published in 1985 by Professional Books of Oxford, with the 'active encouragement' and editorial advice of the Commonwealth Secretariat.^{[1][2][3][4][note 1]} Early volumes covering 1980–1984 included cases on commercial law only, with volumes covering 1985 and later years further encompassing cases on constitutional and criminal law.^[5][6][7] In 1993, the LRC 's three sub-series, each covering commercial, constitutional, and criminal law, respectively, were discontinued in favour of a single consolidated series.^[5][8] By 1994, the Secretariat described the LRC as 'an authoritative and frequently cited source of precedents and judgments from around the Commonwealth.'^{[9][note 2]} The series celebrated the publication of their one-hundredth volume in 2009.^[10]

Contents

The LRC 'report key cases of international significance from all Commonwealth countries,' including 'judgments not reported elsewhere.'^[8] The series now encompass, in addition to commercial, constitutional, and criminal law, a broader remit of case law, including that regarding 'arbitration, conflict of laws, environment, human rights, immigration, property and tort.'^[8] Moreover, the series publish an annual index of cases, an annual 'analysis of legal trends in the Commonwealth,' and an occasional cumulative index of cases.^{[8][11][note 3]}

Citation

Citations to the LRC are the fourth-ranked preference for proceedings before the Caribbean Court of Justice.^{[12][note 4]} Cases reported in the LRC are cited as in the accompanying table.^{[note 5]} For instance, the first record of said table indicates that the decision of the Trinidad and Tobago Supreme Court, entitled Juman v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, was reported in 2017 in volume 2 of the Law Reports of the Commonwealth, with its text starting on page 610.

Style of cause	(year of decision)	[year of report]	volume	report	(series)	page
Juman v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago		[2017]	2	LRC		610
He Kaw Teh v R		[1986]		LRC	(Crim)	553
Clarke v Karika		[1985]		LRC	(Const)	732

Notes and references

Explanatory footnotes

1. Butterworths of London, now LexisNexis, took over publication of the LRC by 1986 (anon 1990b, p. 957, para. 26, anon 1986, p. 1064, para. 13, Kirby 2009, p. 373). The Secretariat's work towards the series's publication is thought to have been prompted by a speech by the then Secretary General, Shridath S. Ramphal, to the seventh Commonwealth-organised law conference in 1983 in Hong Kong (Kirby 2009, p. 372). They envisioned the series as complementary to the Commonwealth Law Bulletin (anon 1996, p. 513, Kirby 2009, p. 373). The series's founding editors included P. N. Bhagwati (of India), Kutlu Fuad (of Hong Kong), James S. Read (of England), Peter E. Slinn (of England), and P. St. John Smart (of England) (Kirby 2009, pp. 372–373).
2. For instance, by 1988, a poll of 'legal officers, the judiciary and private practitioners of the Commonwealth Caribbean' had identified the LRC as 'needed' for routine practice and research (Newton 1988, pp. 9–10).
3. The earliest cumulative index, published 1987, covered commercial law cases from 19 Commonwealth jurisdictions during 1980–1984 (Constance 1988, p. 454). The latest cumulative index covers cases during 1980–2020 (Davies & Tyson 2022, sec. Cases second subsec). The earliest analysis of legal trends, termed Editorial Review, was published 1993 (Kirby 2009, p. 375).
4. The order of preference is, respectively, the West Indian Reports, the Law Reports, 'recognised law reports of the jurisdiction in which the [relevant] case was decided,' and the LRC (Bastide 2007, pp. 400–401, sec. II).
5. Examples in proceeding table were taken from, from top to bottom, UKPC 2022, para. 91, UKPC 2019, para. 34, UKPC 2016, para. 34.

Short citations

1. Kirby 2009, pp. 369, 372–373.
2. anon 1990b, pp. 957–958, para. 26.
3. anon 1994, p. 1020, paras. 17-18.
4. anon 1996, p. 513.
5. Kirby 2009, p. 374.
6. anon 1990b, p. 957, para. 26.
7. anon 1986, p. 1064, para. 13.
8. Davies & Tyson 2022, sec. Cases second subsec.
9. anon 1994, p. 1020, para. 17.
10. Kirby 2009, p. 369, abstract.
11. Kirby 2009, pp. 375–376.
12. Bastide 2007, p. 400, para. f.

Full citations

1. "Arorangi Timberland Ltd & Ors v Minister of the Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund (Cook Islands)". The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Decisions (Court judgment). London: British and Irish Legal Information Institute. 17 November 2016. Neutral citation [2016] UKPC 32.
2. "Nurse and Canserve Ltd v Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago)". The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Decisions (Court judgment). London: British and Irish Legal Information Institute. 28 November 2019. Neutral citation [2019] UKPC 43.
3. "Gulf View Medical Centre Ltd v Tesheira (Trinidad and Tobago)". The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Decisions (Court judgment). London: British and Irish Legal Information Institute. 25 October 2022. Neutral citation [2022] UKPC 38.
4. anon (1986). "Review of the activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the legal field". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 12 (4): 1062–1081. doi:10.1080/03050718.1986.9985884.
5. anon (April 1990a). "Reviews and Notices". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 16 (2): 672–691.
6. anon (July 1990b). "Review of the activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the legal field". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 16 (3): 952–979. doi:10.1080/03050718.1990.9986091.
7. anon (1994). "Review of the activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the legal field". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 20 (3): 1017–1092. doi:10.1080/03050718.1994.9986382.
8. anon (1996). "Review of the activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the legal field". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 22 (1–2): 509–576. doi:10.1080/03050718.1996.9986450.
9. Bastide, M. A. de la (14 March 2007). "Practice Direction (Caribbean Court of Justice: Citation of Judgments and Reported Cases)". West Indian Reports. pp. 399–401.
10. Constance, Spheeris (1988). "Law Reports of the Commonwealth, Commercial Law Reports 1980–1984". International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 37 (2): 454–455. doi:10.1093/iclqaj/37.2.337.
11. Davies, Lisa; Tyson, Alice (February 2022). "Commonwealth countries: Commonwealth". IALS Library (Library guide). London: School of Advanced Study of the University of London.
12. Kirby, Michael (3 June 2009). "The hundredth volume of the Law Reports of the Commonwealth". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 35 (2): 369–377. doi:10.1080/03050710902924619.
13. Lanigan, Jane (29 March 2012). "Law Reports of the Commonwealth: Editorial Review 2010". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 38 (1): 129. doi:10.1080/03050718.2012.668779.
14. Newton, Velma (September 1988). "Standards for Court Libraries". Caribbean Journal of Legal Information. 5 (2): 6–13. ISSN 0255-7118.
15. Read, James S.; Slinn, Peter E. (6 January 2011). "The Commonwealth through the case law". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 36 (4): 729–772. doi:10.1080/03050718.2010.524356.
16. Read, James S.; Slinn, Peter E. (29 March 2012). "The Commonwealth through the case law". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 38 (1): 131–172. doi:10.1080/03050718.2012.646739.
17. Zammit Borda, Aldo (6 January 2011). "Law Reports of the Commonwealth: Editorial Review 2009". Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 36 (4): 727. doi:10.1080/03050718.2010.524354.