Case-law Naming Conventions
These are some of the conventions followed by the Encyclopedia of Law team when entering case names.
Not all cases will necessarily adhere to these conventions straight away; our priority is always to get cases onto the system as quickly as possible, so from time to time cases will be added with names that do not adhere to these conventions, and the team will alter the names at a later stage.
| GUIDE | RULES/NOTES | |
|---|---|---|
| Apostrophes | NameÂ’s or NamesÂ’ OÂ’Name |
|
| Attorney GeneralÂ’s References | Attorney GeneralÂ’s Reference (No. 1 of 2008) Attorney GeneralÂ’s Reference (Nos. 2 and 3 of 2008) Attorney GeneralÂ’s Reference (No. 1 of 2008), R v Party |
|
| Capital letters | Party v Party |
|
| Children/Infants/Minors | A (A Child) B (An Infant) C (A Minor) |
|
| Civil Cases (basic format) | Surname v Surname Forename Surname v Forename Surname (family cases) |
|
| Companies/Businesses | Name (A Firm) Name (A Partnership) Name Ltd Name Co. Ltd (or Name Company Ltd) Name & Co. Name & Sons Name (In Administration) Name (In Liquidation) Name (In Receivership) Name Plc NameA (t/a NameB) |
|
| Other Bodies | Name City Council Name Borough Council Name County Council Name District Council Name London Borough Council Name Rural District Council Name Metropolitan District Council Attorney General Commissioners of Customs and Excise Commissioners of Inland Revenue Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Commission of the European Communities Council of the European Union Department for SubjectA and SubjectB Department for SubjectA, SubjectB and SubjectC DPP European Economic Community European Union Government Minister for Secretary of State for SubjectA and SubjectB Secretary of State for SubjectA, SubjectB and SubjectC HM Offfice The Law Society |
|
| Conjunctions/Generic terms | Claimant v Defendant Name and Wife Claimant v Defendant1 and Defendant2 Name and Another v Name Name and Others v Name Name et Al v Name Name1 ex parte Name2 The Same v Name |
|
| Criminal Cases (basic format) | R v Defendant R v Forename Surname |
|
| Definite articles | Commissioner forÂ… Minister forÂ… Department forÂ… Secretary of State forÂ… Attorney General UK Society/Association/Body |
|
| JudgesÂ’ Names | Mr Justice Name | |
| Judicial Review Cases | R (Claimant) | |
| “In re” cases | In re name | |
| Initials (Individuals) | A v B | |
| Initials (Businesses) | A B Companyname Ltd A & B Companyname Ltd |
|
| Multiple party/case names | R v NameA; R v NameB; R v NameC Name v Name (No. 2) Name v Name sub nom Name v Name |
|
| Name/party qualifiers | NameA, Administrator of NameB NameA, Assignee of NameB Name (A Bankrupt) Name (Deceased) Name (Executor) Name (Executrix) NameA, Executor of NameB NameA, Executrix of NameB Name (Widow) Name Esq. Name pet. diss. |
|
| Unwanted Text in case names | Year/court/date/citation info at end of case name Between Name (plaintiff/appellant/claimant) v Name (respondent/defendant) |
|
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