Oxford LibGuides: Criminal law &amp; justice: Cases

Finding reports & transcripts of English criminal cases

Lexis+ UK
For online access from a device outside the University network or via eduroam, please follow https://plus.lexis.com/uk/xhome?federationidp=RXVSX459307
Alternative names:Lexis ; LexisLibrary ; Lexis Library ; Lexis International

Lexis+ includes extensive primary and secondary legal materials from the UK, EU, USA and many other jurisdictions. It is the only online source for the full text of the All England Law Reports and Halsbury’s Laws. International content can be accessed by following the “International” link on the home page. UK legal news and newspapers are also included
Westlaw Edge UK
Alternative name: West Law UK ; Westlaw UK

Westlaw is provided through a generous donation by Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Westlaw is a large database of UK, US and international legal materials including cases, legislation and journal articles.
Coverage:
•UK statutes, statutory instruments and law reports
•England and Wales law reports
•US federal and state legislation and law reports
•Australian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Canadian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Hong Kong SAR law reports and laws
•European Union legislation and law reports
•UK and US law journals and texts
•Common Law Library and over 200 books published by Sweet & Maxwell (Thomson Reuters)
Because of licencing restrictions this database is not available to "Walk-in" users of the library.
BAILII
OA source of transcripts (not reports) of the decisions/judgments of UK and Irish courts and tribunals. From 2023 includes decisions from The Parole Board for England and Wales
Alternative names: British and Irish Legal Information Institute ; British & Irish Legal Information Institute

Free access to British and Irish judgments. General coverage starts mid 1990s, though earlier key judgments are also included. Bailii also includes a subject arrangement of judgments. The judgments are transcripts and do not include arguments of counsel or headnotes. For a wider selection of Law Reports please see Justis, Lexis or Westlaw.
Find Case Law - Judgments and decisions from 2003 onwards
Free access to judgments and decisions of United Kingdom courts and tribunals. As of June 2023 coverage is of decisions from the superior courts of record – the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and the Upper Tribunals – and from 2003 onwards. The decisions are provided in the form of transcripts of judgments only: they do not include arguments of counsel nor headnotes. Holders of an Oxford SSO are reminded that Westlaw Edge UK, Lexis + UK and i-law are the subscription databases which provide them with published reports of UK judgments.

The principal printed reports which include modern English criminal cases are listed below. The usual abbreviation used in citations to each report is given in bold first, as that is what you will see in footnotes and tables of cases.

AC Appeal Cases
All ER All England Reports
Cox CC Cox's Criminal Cases
Cr App R Criminal Appeal Reports
Cr App R (S) Criminal Appeal Reports (Sentencing)
KB King's Bench QB Queen's Bench
QBD Queen's Bench Division
TLRTimes Law Reports
WLR Weekly Law Reports

Neutral citations

These citations can be used in subcription databases to find, at least, the transcript of the judgment. If the case was subsequently reported, then the database will alert you to this fact.

UKHL United Kingdom House of Lords
UKSC United Kingdom Supreme Court
EWCA Crim England & Wales Court of Appeal Criminal Division
EWHC (QB)England & Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) or (KB) (King's Bench Division)

Neutral Citation in the UK
Free resource. Links to the various Practice Directions which introduced the system from 2001 onwards. Also explains why pre 2001 neutral "looking" are not official. It is not recommended that they be used in legal citations.

International Human Rights & administration of criminal justice

Westlaw Edge UK
includes EHRR
Alternative name: West Law UK ; Westlaw UK

Westlaw is provided through a generous donation by Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Westlaw is a large database of UK, US and international legal materials including cases, legislation and journal articles.
Coverage:
•UK statutes, statutory instruments and law reports
•England and Wales law reports
•US federal and state legislation and law reports
•Australian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Canadian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Hong Kong SAR law reports and laws
•European Union legislation and law reports
•UK and US law journals and texts
•Common Law Library and over 200 books published by Sweet & Maxwell (Thomson Reuters)
Because of licencing restrictions this database is not available to "Walk-in" users of the library.

Responding to human rights judgments
Free resource. Pdf available from Justice.gov websit of UK's Ministry of Justice's Report to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on the Government’s response to human rights judgments 2010-11 September 2011 Cm 8162
HUDOC: ECHR: database of case law
Search screen for database of decisions. Use the left hand column to set sensible filters or construct a search string
European Convention on Human Rights Case law Analysis
Official website. Free analysis provided by court registry

Puzzled by Crim LR citation?

Crim LR is the abbreivation for the Criminal Law Review - in other words, a specialist law journal (which happens to publish useful case notes) not a law report series.

As it is a journal, it is shelved among the journals.

OU members have online access to this journal - but only from 1986 onwards - via Westlaw UK (see link below)

Westlaw Edge UK
Alternative name: West Law UK ; Westlaw UK

Westlaw is provided through a generous donation by Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Westlaw is a large database of UK, US and international legal materials including cases, legislation and journal articles.
Coverage:
•UK statutes, statutory instruments and law reports
•England and Wales law reports
•US federal and state legislation and law reports
•Australian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Canadian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Hong Kong SAR law reports and laws
•European Union legislation and law reports
•UK and US law journals and texts
•Common Law Library and over 200 books published by Sweet & Maxwell (Thomson Reuters)
Because of licencing restrictions this database is not available to "Walk-in" users of the library.

Foreign court decisions

Bodleian Law Library guides to jurisdictions
The Law Bod's guides to both online and print resources for national constitutions, legislation, and case law as well as commentary on the legal systems and their law in books and journals
World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII): Databases
WorldLII provides a single search facility for databases located on the following Legal Information Institutes: AustLII; BAILII; CanLII; HKLII; LII (Cornell); and PacLII.

WorldLII also includes as part of this searchable collection its own databases not found on other LIIs. These include databases of decisions of international Courts and Tribunals, databases from a number of Asian countries, and databases from South Africa (provided by Wits Law School).
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WorldLII is a free, independent and non-profit global legal research facility developed collaboratively by the following Legal Information Institutes and other organisations: AustLII, BAILII, CanLII, HKLII, (USA) LII (Cornell)), PacLII,
Wits University School of Law