We have been asked some interesting questions about The Business Law Reports series. They have been reproduced here and kindly answered by the Series Editor; Paul Magrath.
• Does this series have the "official" status of The Law Reports?
• The title “Business Law Reports” sounds rather vague. How specialised is its coverage?
• Can you please tell me what overlap, if any, there is between Bus LR and the other ICLR reports?
• I subscribe to the WLR and I would be concerned if the Bus LR merely selected the business cases from the WLR. Is it intended to reduce any content from the WLR given the advent of the Bus LR?
• Could you let me know what your position is regarding the inclusion of Scottish material? Does it include Scottish cases which are appealed to the House of Lords or Scottish cases which could have applicability in England?
• Do you include European law cases and if so in what proportion?
• Do you include any criminal cases?
• I already subscribe to WLR and am thinking of subscribing to Bus LR as well. Does the ICLR provide any discount for a subscription to both?
• Does this series have the "official" status of The Law Reports?
The Practice Direction quoted on our web site applies only to The Law Reports as such, but Bus LR benefits from the established brand of ICLR as publishers of the Law Reports and, as with the WLR, ICR and PTSR, all reports are be proof-read by the judges whose judgments are included and in that sense authorised by the judiciary.
• The title “The Business Law Reports” sounds rather vague. How specialised is its coverage?
The Bus LR covers, broadly speaking, company, commercial and intellectual property cases. It casts its net a little wider (but perhaps a little less deeply) than most other specialist series in those areas, in order to cover cases of particular interest to businesses, business professionals, their advisers, and teachers and students of business law. We intend to apply a principle of "intelligent selection" to include those cases of particular interest to our readers without feeling obliged to cover everything that moves within a particular field.
• Can you please tell me what overlap, if any, there is between Bus LR and the other ICLR reports?
Part of the reason for launching new series was to be able to extend the overall number of cases we could report, given that the ICLR has more reporters covering more courts than any other publisher, so it would defeat that object if we didn't give the Bus LR a large measure of exclusives within our stable. That said, there is inevitably some overlap, but it is only between 10 and 20 per cent. A very small number of cases will also appear in The Law Reports.
• I subscribe to the WLR and I would be concerned if the Bus LR merely selected the business cases from the WLR. Is it intended to reduce any content from the WLR given the advent of the Bus LR?
Most cases in Bus LR are of the type that would not have been reported in a more general series like WLR, let alone The Law Reports. But there may be a slight reduction in the coverage of those business law cases which would otherwise have appeared in WLR. Some cases may appear in both, but the overlap is only in the region of 10 to 20 per cent.
• Could you let me know what your position is regarding the inclusion of Scottish material? Does it include Scottish cases which are appealed to the House of Lords or Scottish cases which could have applicability in England?
Although we don't normally cover Scottish material because of the difference in substantive law as well as jurisdiction, we do cover Scottish cases appealed to the House of Lords (now the Supreme Court) where they concern a point of law of general interest or application of relevance to English law.
• Do you include European law cases and if so in what proportion?
Bus LR reports competition cases from the European Court of Justice and the Competition Appeal Tribunal which would formerly have been reported in the Industrial Cases Reports, and we do in addition cover some intellectual property cases (eg trade marks) but we do not include more than one or two European cases in each issue, ie no more than 10% over all. The reports predominantly concentrate on decisions from the Chancery and Queen’s Bench Divisions of the High Court of England and Wales, and the Court of Appeal on issues of English law respecting various aspects of business law, including issues involving companies and commercial disputes involving companies, partnerships and sole traders.
•Do you include any criminal cases?
A small number of criminal cases concern the activities of defendants as businessmen. These could include corporate manslaughter and serious breaches of health and safety legislation for which criminal sanctions are applied, and regulatory offences involving banks and financial advisers. However, it is not the purpose of the Business Law Reports to advise those who deliberately engage in criminal activity; rather it is to advise honest business people seeking to avoid the risks and consequences of other people's criminality.
• I already subscribe to WLR and am thinking of subscribing to Bus LR as well. Does the ICLR provide any discount for a subscription to both?
As a "not for profit" publisher our prices are already lower than those charged by commercial publishers, with the result that we are unable to offer discounts for bundles except where we sell The Entire Series which comprises The Weekly Law Reports and The Law Reports. >>Current prices
