A-Z Harvard Solent Referencing examples

The basic format for creating a Harvard Solent reference for a UK case is:

Party names [Year of publication] Volume number (if available) Abbreviated Reference for the Law Report Series Start page
 

In-text reference examples

...as documented in Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd [1947] KB 130.

You can use the first party name for any subsequent references if it is clear to which case you are referring:

...This was also evidenced in the outcome of Central London Property Trust Ltd.     


If you wish to refer to specific pages within a judgment, then include these after the reference:

Pepper (Inspector of Texes) v Hart [1993] AC 593, 594

Pepper (Inspector of Texes) v Hart [1993] AC 593 at 594

 

If you are quoting directly from a judgment put the quote in quotation marks "  ".  You can shorten the quote using pauses ...:

...This point was reinforced in the judgement of Diplock LJ in Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [1962] 2 QB 26, 70 when he said "There are many... contractual undertakings... which cannot be categorised as being 'conditions'."

 

Reference list format
Party Names [Year of publication] Volume number (if available) Law Report Abbreviation Start page

 

Reference list examples

Pepper (Inspector of Texes) v Hart [1993] AC 593

Macfarlane v EE Caledonia Ltd [1994] 2 All ER 1

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Neutral Citations

High Court and Court of Appeal cases from 2001 onwards have neutral citations. A neutral citation includes the year of the judgment, the Court abbreviation (e.g. UKHL=UK House of Lords, EWCA=England and Wales Court of Appeal) and the case number. This can be included before a law report citation, or where a case is otherwise unreported.

Reference list example

R v Rezvi [2002] UKHL 1, [2002] 1 All ER 801

If you wish to refer to specific paragraphs within a judgment, then include these after the reference as above.

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Unreported cases

Some unreported cases can be found as transcripts or via the legal databases. A neutral citation should be given where possible. Cases prior to 2001 should include:

Names of the Parties. Court. Date of Judgment (Unreported)

 

Reference list example

Hare v Pollard. Court of Appeal Civil Division. 16 June 1997 (Unreported)

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Use of round or square brackets

Round brackets should be used instead of square where the date is not essential for locating the case - e.g. where a volume number is provided and the date referred to is the year of judgment (rather than publication date).

 

Reference list example
Holdom v Kidd and Others (1986) 61 P&CR 456

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Referring to a case you have read about in a textbook

It is generally best to look up legal cases and refer to a law report or official version. Law reports can be found online via the Westlaw and LexisUK+ databases. If, however, you only want to refer to a case that you have found in a legal textbook, you must treat this as a secondary reference.

In-text reference example

Smith v Jones [2001] EWCA 1425 (cited in Murphy 2007, p.4) implies that...

Reference list example

Fully reference the textbook you have actually read (e.g. the textbook by Murphy in this example) using the 'Book' reference format.

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NOTE: Law students should use the OSCOLA system to cite legal references.