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Casebank Formatting Policy

If you are a Casebank Research Associate and are currently putting together a Casefile, you must adhere to the Casebank Formatting Policy. This is to maximise ease of use for our readers, and to ensure that Casebank maintains a professional and consistent look throughout.

General

  • Times New Roman
  • AT THE BOTTOM OF EVERY PAGE, remember to put as a folder (in Times New Roman):
    • Horizontal line (with gap to text above at 1 inch)
    • “Judgement courtesy of the BAILII – [web link to judgement] / Westlaw – [web link to judgement]”
    • If paragraph or page numbers of a law report are included: “Page numbers reference report [citation], e.g. ‘[1954] 1 WLR 34”
    • CHECK there is no unnecessary spacing (e.g. judge’s name on another page to where their judgement begins)

Colour code for bookmarks

  • Facts – Yellow
  • Issue – Green
  • Ratio – Light blue (if there is more than one ratio, assign that second ratio a separate colour)
  • Judge names – Dark Blue
  • Setting out the law – Pink (make sure to begin your sub-heading with ‘The Law – X’
  • Criticisms – Red
  • Any other issues that consecutively arise, assign a continuous colour to them (e.g. Objective not subjective assessment – Orange)

Headnote

  • Case name and date in size 14 and bold
  • Horizontal line
  • ‘Headnote’ in bold
  • One line summary of the court deciding the case and what the case concerned
  • Set out the facts of the case (briefly with only relevant information)
  • Issue of the case
  • If there was a previous ruling by a lower court (CofA) that is a highly significant to the current judgement (HofL) provide quick summary of this and its significance
  • Court’s decision and the ratio of the case
  • Significance of the decision
  • Appellate history – indented arrow with court (High Court, Court of Appeal etc.), whether the decision was approved or rejected (‘Decision Approved’ in green/’Decision Rejected’ in red), and if certain issues were approved and others rejected
  • The topic/topics of the case
  • Related cases and authorities (See: all cases/legislation in bold)
  • Horizontal line

Headnote Marking Up

  • Bookmark facts and put link to where it is located in the judgement
  • Bookmark issue and put link to where it is located in the judgement
  • Bookmark ratio and put link to where it is located in the judgement
  • Colour code bookmarks

Judgement

  • Attempt to use the pdf judgement from BAILII and edit that document – if this is not available / not editable, then copy and paste the judgement into a document and then follow the instructions below
  • Citation top left corner size 11
  • Space
  • Horizontal line – Case name below in bold, all caps and in size 14 in centre of page (appellant, in line down ‘-V-‘, line down respondent) – horizontal line below
  • Then the word judgement (not in bold) in size 11 under horizontal line in centre of page
  • Judges’ names in all caps and in bold
  • Any other authorities (legislative or case law) in bold
  • For titles within judgement (e.g. ‘The Law’ or ‘Issue 1’) use italics
  • Use paragraph numbers used in law reports
  • If no paragraph numbers, put judgement’s actual page numbers throughout judgement (will find in green on Westlaw for example) – e.g. *493

Judgement Marking Up

  • If more than one judge, bookmark their name in ALL CAPS – then indent any bookmarks within their specific judgement (either put three dashes ‘—‘ or create sub folder)
  • Highlight in green any relevant text – then attach comment on the side explaining its meaning and significance to both the case and wider legal context
  • Limit use of bookmarks to most important points
  • Colour code bookmarks
  • Turn on page numbers

Table of Contents

  • At the end of the document insert a table of contents outlining all of the bookmarks, highlight, comments and links
  • Rename it ‘Table of Annotations’

Rubric

  • In the desk space, insert the rubric on how to read a Case Bank document