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Every law student refer to various judgements every now and then. Some are Indian Judgements and some are of other legal system. But how to read a legal citation? Knowing how to read and write case citations is an imperative skill for everyone studying law. This article may help you with understanding of the basic elements. The complexity may be varied but this level of understanding is adequate for most of us.
How to read a simple case citation ?
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala AIR 1973 SC 1461
The 1st party is generally called Plaintiff and the 2nd Party is Defendant
S. R. Bommai v. Union of India [1994] 2 SCR 644: AIR 1994 SC 1918: (1994)3 SCC1
Sometimes for a particular case there may be more than one citations. These are called Equivalent Citations or Parallel Citations. Generally AIR, SCC, SCR, JT and SCALE are used to refer cases but there are more.
Download List of Law Journals/Reporters / Publications (INDIAN) : Source Manupatra : Download Here
Download List of various Abbreviations /Reporters etc. (International) : Source Firstpoint / Thomson Reuters : Download Here
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100, Rylands v Fletcher [1868] UKHL 1 Here UKHL means United Kingdom House of Lords
Sometimes a Citation is like this O.A. Nos. 1096 and 1097 of 2008 and Application No. 4695 of 2008 in C.S. No. 949 of 2008
Here our previous knowledge won’t help. Lets learn some more Abbreviations. Here O.A. and C.S. or A. No. are Case Types or Types of Cases. By referring the list we will come to know that O.A. means Original Application, C.S. means Civil Suit and A.No. means Application No.
Below is a detailed list of types of cases which might come handy. Source http://causelists.nic.in/
“CASE TYPES”
APPELLATE SIDE
Main Case Types
WRIT APPEAL : W.A.
WRIT APPEAL (MADURAI) : W.A. (MD)
FIRST APPEAL : A.S.
SECOND APPEAL : S.A.
ORIGINAL SIDE APPEAL : O.S.A.
SPECIAL TRIBUNAL APPEAL : S.T.A.
CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL : C.M.A.
CIVIL MIS.SECOND APPEAL : C.M.S.A.
LETTERS PATENT APPEAL : L.P.A.
SPECIAL TRIBUNAL PETITION : S.T.P.
CONTEMPT APPEAL : CONT.A.
CROSS OBJECTION : CROSS.OBJ.
TRADE MARKS APPEAL : T.M.A.
TRADE MARKS SECOND APPEAL : T.M.S.A.
TAX CASES : T.C.
TAX CASE APPEAL : T.C.A.
TAX CASE REVISION : T.C.R.
REFERRED CASE PETITION : R.C.P.
CIVIL REVISION PETITION : C.R.P.
CIVIL REVISION PETITION (PD) : C.R.P. (PD)
MATRIMONIAL CAUSES : MC
REVIEW APPLICATION : REV.APPL.
Miscellaneous Case Types
MISCELLANEOUS PETITION : M.P.
CAVEAT : CAVEAT
Note: For all cases filed in Madurai Bench, the letters ‘MD’ shall be added in Brackets along side the respective abbreviations.
CRIMINAL SIDE
Main Case Types
HABEAS CORPUS PETITION : H.C.P.
CRL. REVISION CASE : CRL. R.C.
CRIMINAL APPEAL : CRL.A.
REFERRED TRIAL : R.T.
CRIMINAL ORIGINAL PETITION : CRL. O.P.
REFERENCE CASE : R.C.
Miscellaneous Case Types
MISCELLANEOUS PETITION : M.P.
Note: For all cases filed in Madurai Bench, the letters ‘MD’ shall be added in Brackets along side the respective abbreviations.
WRIT SIDE
Main Case Types
WRIT PETITION : W.P.
WRIT PETITION (MADURAI) : W.P. (MD)
WRIT PETITION (TRIBUNAL) : W.P. (T)
REVIEW APPLICATION : REV. APPL.
Miscellaneous Case Types
MISCELLANEOUS PETITION : M.P.
Note: For all cases filed in Madurai Bench, the letters ‘MD’ shall be added in Brackets along side the respective abbreviations.
ORIGINAL SIDE
Main Case Types
CIVIL SUIT : C.S.
INSOLVENCY PETITION : I.P.
INSOLVENCY NOTICE I.N.
ORIGINAL PETITION : O.P.
COMPANY PETITION : C.P.
CONTEMPT PETITION : CONT. PETN
ELECTION PETITION : ELEC. PETN
TESTAMENTARY ORIGINAL SUIT : T.O.S.
ORIGINAL MATRIMONIAL SUIT : O.M.S
ORIGINAL APPLICATIONS : O.A.
Miscellaneous Case Types
ORIGINAL APPLICATION : O.A.
APPLICATION : APPLICATION
COMPANY APPLICATION : COM. APPLICATION
SUB-APPLICATION : SUB-APPLICATION
EXECUTION PETITION : E.P.
CAVEAT : CAVEAT
Reading Material to understand foreign citations better : Visit Here
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