ABSTRACT
The decisions of judges are delivered orally in court, when the judge may read a pre-written judgment or speak from notes. The words spoken and recorded in writing constitute the words that contain any legally binding rules. At the time of delivery, they are also usually recorded verbatim by the court stenographer. In addition, official law reporters, as well as unofficial, are in court taking shorthand notes. The record of the judgment will be kept by the court, but some decisions, thought to be important to the development or understanding of the law, will be additionally published in one of the range of privately published series of reports of decisions in law cases in courts and tribunals. A case that is chosen for publication is called a law report. Each publisher will structure their reports differently, perhaps adding footnotes or summaries but the words attributed to the judge have to remain a true and accurate record of the words actually spoken. The reports given the highest regard are those that wait for the judge concerned to check the accuracy of their written record. Section 4.4, below, gives more detail.
