Law Study: Judgments or Law Reports?

Hi all, I've just started my law degree and having been set a lot of reading, mainly cases, and I'm unsure as to whether I am better off reading judgments or law reports?
I know law reports are known to be authoritative and full of important detail, but surely with judgments you can better pick out ratio/dicta of the case?
Which is essentially better to read/most efficient?
Thanks :smile:

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 1

University of Kent

Official Rep

Original post by RetroSPECT3.0

Hi there @RetroSPECT3.0

In my opinion, both of those are really good options, and really it depends on how much time you have or how important the case is.

When I know a case is very significant (usually the lecturer would go over the case is a lot of detail, or when the coursework relates to a specific case etc.), I would read over the judgment in detail. Like you said, this would allow you to identify the different points being made and gain better understanding of the case.

Law reports are generally quite good as a starting point, it gives you the consolidated details about what is going on in the case. I would either read this before the judgment, or on its own when the case is not given that much emphasis during lectures. With practice, you will learn how to identify which parts of the cases are more important so reading judgments would not take as long.

I hope this helps.
Good luck with your studies! :smile:

Chloe
-University of Kent Student Rep