(a) Year and brackets

When citing a Scottish case, the year is included if it is an essential part of the citation (ie if the volumes of the report series are arranged by year), but it is not included in brackets.

Eg Musaj v Secretary of State for the Home Department 2004 SLT 623 (OH).

When the year is not an essential part of the citation (ie if the volumes of the report series are arranged by volume number), enclose the year in round brackets. (In such cases, the Scottish practice is sometimes not to include the year at all; however, this practice should not be followed in New Zealand.)

Eg Glenday v Johnston (1905) 13 SLT 467 (IH).

Square brackets are never used when citing Scottish law reports.

(b) Court identifiers

The Court of Session is Scotland’s supreme civil court. The Court is divided into the Outer House (essentially the first instance division) and the Inner House (an appeal court). The Inner House is divided into two divisions: the First Division and the Second Division. The Divisions are of equal authority and are presided over by the Lord President and Lord Justice Clerk respectively. It is not necessary to distinguish between the two divisions in the court identifier. Due to the pressure of business an Extra Division often sits to hear cases.

The High Court of Justiciary is Scotland’s supreme criminal court. The Court sits as both a trial and appellate court.

Use the following court identifiers for the Scottish courts:

Outer HouseOH

Inner HouseIH

High Court of Justiciary, Appeal CourtHCJAC

High Court of Justiciary, Trial CourtHCJT

“Scot” may be included before the court identifier if necessary, to indicate that the decision is a Scottish one, with no space between “Scot” and the court identifier.