Researching Case Law

Nominate reports

Before the introduction of authorised law reports in 1865, UK cases were often reported by private court reporters. These were known as nominate reports, reflecting the name of the reporter, e.g. Jacob. Many nominate cases from 1220 - 1873 have been reprinted in the English Reports (ER).

The English Reports are available online from HeinOnline, Westlaw UK and CommonLII.  

Case Example:

Gilbert against Berkinshaw (1790) Lofft 771; 98 ER 911

In this example the name of the case is Gilbert against Berkinshaw. The year of the case is 1790. The law report citation for the original nominate law report is (1790) Lofft 771. The law report citation for the format in the English Reports is 98 ER 911. This means that Lofft’s reports are reprinted in volume 98 of the English Reports. If a case is reported in the English Reports, it is best to locate the full-text PDF version of that case as reported in that series.

Note

AGLC4 rule 24.1.3 explains how to reference UK nominate law reports reprinted in the English Reports.

Finding English Reports on HeinOnline

To find high quality PDF nominate reports published in the English Reports use HeinOnline.

1. Go to the HeinOnline database homepage via the Library A-Z Databases.
2. From the homepage, in Browse Databases by Category section under the search bar. Select U.K. Content and then click on English Reports. Then click on English Reports from the drop-down menu.

3.  Enter the law report citation in the English Reports into the Case Locator search box. Select the English Reports Citation. Click on Locate.

4. On the page, locate the start of the original nominate law report. Cases can be reprinted anywhere on the page. In this example the case appears on page 911 of the English Reports in the middle of the page. The [771] indicates the starting page of the case in Lofft’s original nominate law report.

Downloading a HeinOnline case

You can download the PDF, print or email using the options above the case.