Law for General Knowledge II

Citation in Law Reports

The citation generally described below can be referred to when you are reading a Singapore Law Report.

Cases which are found in reports are cited in a particular manner. The standard form of citation is to write the name of the parties involved, the year the judgement was delivered, the law report series in which it is reported and the page number of the volume.

Hence a typical citation appears as : John V Mary [1994] 3 SLR 719, meaning that this case is to be found commencing on page 719 of the third volume of the Singapore Law Reports published for 1994.

When reading a law report, it is important to note the parties involved. In civil cases, the first party is the plaintiff - the person making the complaint. The plaintiff is the person who initiates the legal proceedings while the other party is the defendant. In criminal cases, the first party is the public prosecutor (abbreviated to "PP") , acting for the state, and the other party is the defendant. For both and civil appeals, the first party is the appellant and the other party is the respondent. Hence, at first instance, a defendant's name appears second. If he subsequently appeals, his name will appear first as the appellant.