Consolidated practice directions

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Citation of Reasons for Decision 
 
1. 
The Supreme Court of Western Australia uses media neutral citation, 
incorporating paragraph numbering, in all reasons for decision of the 
Court. 
2. 
The adoption of media neutral citation followed a decision of the 
Australian and New Zealand Council of Chief Justices on 20 October 
1997 to adopt a uniform method of citation across jurisdictions. The 
adoption of media neutral citation is also designed to assist with and 
simplify electronic appeals. 
3. 
All reasons for decision of the Court published on and after 30 April 
1999 shall be cited in the following manner: 
[
Parties
] [Year of publication] [Court identifier] [Judgment no.] 
[Paragraph no.] 
 
(a) 'Court identifier' refers to the jurisdiction of the Court. The 
Supreme Court of Western Australia will have two Court 
identifiers: 
(i)
 
WASC 
will designate the reasons for decision of the Court 
other than when sitting as the Court of Appeal. 
(ii) 
WASCA 
will designate the reasons for decision of the Court of 
Appeal. 
(b) 'Judgment No.' refers to the number assigned by the Court to the 
reasons for decision. All reasons for decision published after 
30 April 1999 will be numbered sequentially. This element does 
not refer to the Library number. 
(c) 'Paragraph No.' refers to the numbers assigned to each paragraph 
in the reasons for decision by the Court. Paragraphs will be 
numbered sequentially from the start of the reasons for decision to 
the end. In the case of appeals the sequence will incorporate the 
individual reasons for judgment of each Judge in the sequence.

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8. Reasons for Decision 
PD 8.2.2 
Supreme Court of Western Australia 
Consolidated Practice Direction
(d) For example: 
(i)
 
Jones v Smith
 
[1999] WASC 12 is a reference to the reasons for 
decision in the matter of Jones and Smith, at first instance, 
published in 1999 being judgment number 12. 
Lee v The Queen
 
[1999] WASCA 14 is a reference to the 
reasons for decision in the matter of Lee and the Queen, on 
appeal, published in 1999 being judgment number 14. 
(ii) 
Jones v Smith
 
[1999] WASC 12 [15] is a reference to 
paragraph 15 of the reasons for decision in the matter of Jones 
and Smith, at first instance, published in 1999 being judgment 
number 12. 
Lee v The Queen
 
[1999] WASCA 14 [5] is a reference to 
paragraph 5 of the reasons for decision in the matter of Lee 
and the Queen, on appeal, published in 1999 being judgment 
number 14. 
4. 
Where the reasons for decision of the Court are reported, the media 
neutral citation shall be given first followed by the report citation. This 
method of citation is called 'parallel citation'. 
For example: