Overview: The following abbreviations were used in the citation of cases in colonial South Asia. This list includes law reports and law journals from British India (including Burma), various Indian princely states, and the British Isles up to 1947. Unless otherwise indicated, series titles are from British India. Periodicals labeled “(Eng)” indicate law reports produced in Britain, normally covering cases heard in England and Wales. These serials sometimes included Privy Council cases, which originated in the colonies but were decided in London. Periodicals covering Scotland, Ireland and Ceylon are identified separately when their title does not indicate jurisdiction. For a more detailed list of English, Irish, and Scottish abbreviations, see James Paterson, Compendium of English and Scotch Law: stating their differences (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1865), pp.xli-xlii and Ernest Arthur Jelf, Where to find your law (London: Horace Cox, 1907), Appendix I-VI. Most titles below span the period from the mid-to-late nineteenth century until 1947-8, when India, Pakistan (including the future Bangladesh), Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) and Burma (later Myanmar) gained independence from Britain. However, some English reports date back to the early modern period.
Sources: I have compiled this list from the “Abbreviations Explained” pages at the beginning of law reports, case digests, and treatises. It also includes forms of abbreviation used in case law and law journal articles from across colonial India.
Format: Some publications used periods between capital letters, while others did not (e.g. A.I.R. versus AIR). This list does not distinguish between these forms. Because legal publications did not follow a uniform system of abbreviation, the same abbreviation may have been used across different publications for more than one law report series (e.g. BLR could mean Bengal Law Reports or Bombay Law Reporter). Similarly, one series of law reports could have several possible abbreviated forms (e.g.. both “Mad.” and “ILR Mad” could refer to the Indian Law Reports Madras series). All variations are listed below. The most frequently used abbreviation for the Indian Law Reports included “ILR” (i.e. “ILR Mad,” rather than “M.” or “Mad.” for the Indian Law Reports Madras series). For the All India Reporter series, the most common form of abbreviation included “AIR” (i.e. “AIR Pesh” rather than “Pesh.” for the All India Reporter Peshawar series). For further information on many of the titles included here, see my “Published Primary Sources” tab.
A. Indian Law Reports Allahabad series
Acton Acton’s Reports, Prize Causes, Privy Council (Eng)
AC Appeal Cases (Eng)
Agra North-Western Provinces High Court Reports, Agra
Agra F.B. North-Western Provinces High Court Reports, Agra
Agra FB Agra Full Bench Rulings
Agra FBR Agra Full Bench Rulings
Agra HCR Agra High Court Reports
AIR All All India Reporter Allahabad
AIR Bom All India Reporter Bombay
AIR Cal All India Reporter Calcutta
AIR Cr All India Reporter Criminal Cases
AIR Lah All India Reporter Lahore
AIR Lower Burma All India Reporter Lower Burma
AIR Mad All India Reporter Madras
AIR Nag All India Reporter Nagpur
AIR Oudh All India Reporter Oudh
AIR Pat All India Reporter Patna
AIR Pesh All India Reporter Peshawar
AIR PC All India Reporter Privy Council
AIR Rang All India Reporter Rangoon
AIR SC All India Reporter Supreme Court
AIR Sind All India Reporter Sind
ALJ Allahabad Law Journal
ALJR Allahabad Law Journal Reporter
All Indian Law Reports Allahabad series
All ER All England Reports (Eng)
All HC North-Western Provinces High Court Reports,
Allahabad
AMLJ Ajmer-Mewara Law Journal
Atk. Atkins’ Chancery Reports (Eng)
Atk. Atkyns (Eng)
AWN Allahabad Weekly Notes
B. Indian Law Reports Bombay Series
B. & Ald. Barnewell & Alderson’s Reports (Eng)
Bald. Baldeva Ram Dave’s Privy Council Cases
Beng.LR Bengal Law Reports
BHC Bombay High Court Reports
BLJ Bombay Law Journal
BLR Bengal Law Reports
BLR Bombay Law Reporter
BLT Burma Law Times
Beng LR Bengal Law Reports
Beng. Sad. Rep. Bengal Sadar Diwani Adalat Reports
Bom All India Reporter Bombay
Bom Bombay High Court Reports
Bom Indian Law Reports Bombay series
Bom HCR Bombay High Court Reports
Bom LJ Bombay Law Journal
Bom LR Bombay Law Reporter
Bom PJ Bombay Printed Judgments
Bourke Bourke’s Reports
BR Ballasingham’s Reports
Bur.LJ Burma Law Journal
Bur.LT Burma Law Times
Burma LJ Burma Law Journal
Burma LR Burma Law Reports
C. Indian Law Reports Calcutta series
Ca. Indian Law Reports Calcutta series
Cal All India Reporter Calcutta
Cal Indian Law Reports Calcutta series
Cal LJ or CLJ Calcutta Law Journal
CB Common Bench (Eng)
Cey LJ Ceylon Law Journal
Ch.App. Law Reports, Chancery Appeals (Eng)
Ch.D. Chancery Division (Eng)
Chev., M.J. Norman Chevers, A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence for India (Note: This is a treatise, rather than a law report series, but it sometimes appears as a source for case summaries.)
CLJ Calcutta Law Journal
CLJ Cambridge Law Journal (Eng)
CLR Calcutta Law Reporter
Co.Rep. Coke’s Reports (Eng)
Coke Inst. Coke’s Institutes (Eng)
Cont.LR Contemporary Law Review (Eng)
Cor. Coryton’s Reports (Calcutta)
Cox C.C. Cox’s Criminal Cases (Eng)
CPLR Central Provinces Law Reports
Cr All India Reporter Criminal Cases
Cr.App.R. Criminal Appeal Reports (Eng)
Cr.LJ Criminal Law Journal of India
Crim. LJ Criminal Law Journal of India
CWN Calcutta Weekly Notes
De G. & J. De Gex & Jones, temp. Cranworth, Clemsford
& Campbell (Eng)
ER English Reports (Eng)
El. & Bl. Ellis & Blackburn’s Reports (Eng)
Ex. Exchequer Reports (Eng)
Ex.D. Exchequer Division (Eng)
F. Family Division (Eng)
F.C. Faculty Collections (Scotland)
Fulton Fulton’s Reports
Hay Hay’s Reports
Hyde Hyde’s Reports
IA Law Reports Indian Appeals (Eng)
IC Indian Cases
ILQ or IndLQ Indian Law Quarterly
ILR All Indian Law Reports Allahabad series
ILR Bom Indian Law Reports Bombay series
ILR Cal Indian Law Reports Calcutta series
ILR Lah Indian Law Reports Lahore series
ILR Luck Indian Law Reports Lucknow series
ILR Mad Indian Law Reports Madras series
ILR Nag Indian Law Reports Nagpur series
ILR Pat Indian Law Reports Patna series
ILR Rang Indian Law Reports Rangoon series
I.R. Irish Reports (Ireland)
Ind. Cas. Indian Cases
Ind. Dec. (O.S.) Indian Decisions; being a Verbatim Reprint of the Reports of Cases Decided by the Late Supreme Courts and the Sudder Dewanny Adawluts in India
Ind. Jur. N.S. Indian Jurist, New Series
Ind. Jur. O.S. Indian Jurist, Old Series
Ind. Rul. Indian Rulings
JCLIL Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law (Eng)
Johns. & Hem. Johnson & Hemming’s Reports (Eng)
KB King’s Bench (Eng)
KBD King’s Bench Division (Eng)
KLR Kathiawar Law Reports
Knapp Knapp’s Reports (Eng)
L. Indian Law Reports Lahore series
Lah All India Reporter Lahore
LBR Lower Burma Rulings (or Lower Burma Chief Court Rulings)
Le. & Ca. Leigh & Cave’s Crown Cases Reserved (Eng)
LJEx. Law Journal New Series Exchequer (Eng)
LM&R Law Magazine & Review: A Quarterly Review
of Jurisprudence (Eng)
LJP. Law Journal Reports (Probate, Divorce
and Admiralty) (Eng)
LJPro Law Journal, Probate Court (Eng)
LLJ Lahore Law Journal
LQR Law Quarterly Review (Eng)
LR AC Law Reports Appeal Cases (Eng)
LR CP . Law Reports Common Pleas (Eng)
LR Ch.D Law Reports Chancery Division (Eng)
LR Eq Law Reports Equity Cases (Eng)
LR IA Law Reports Indian Appeals (Eng)
LR KB Law Reports: King’s Bench (Eng)
LR KBD Law Reports: King’s Bench (Eng)
LR QB Law Reports Queen’s Bench (Eng)
LR QBD Law Reports Queen’s Bench (Eng)
LR P Law Reports Probate division
LR PC Law Reports Privy Council (Eng)
LR P&D Law Reports Probate and Divorce (Eng)
LR Probate Law Reports Probate Division (Eng)
LT Law Times (Eng)
Luck. Indian Law Reports Lucknow series
M. Indian Law Reports Madras series
M.& W. Meeson & Welsby’s Reports (Eng)
Mad All India Reporter Madras
Mad Indian Law Reports Madras series
Mad HCR Madras High Court Reports
Mad LJ or MLJ Madras Law Journal
Marsh. Marshall’s Reports
Marshall Marshall’s Reports
MHC Madras High Court Reports
MHCR Madras High Court Reports
MIA Moore’s Indian Appeals (Eng)
MLJ Madras Law Journal
MLR Modern Law Review (Eng)
MLT Madras Law Times
MLW Madras Law Weekly
Mod. Modern Reports (Eng)
Moo. IA Moore’s Indian Appeals (Eng)
Moo. PCC Moore’s Privy Council Cases
Moo. PCNS Moore’s Privy Council Cases, New Series
Moore NS, Moore (NS) Moore’s Privy Council Cases, New Series (15-17 ER), 1826-30
Moyle Moyle’s Criminal Rulings and Judgments or Moyle’s Criminal Circulars (Lower Burma)
MR The Mauritius Reports
MWN Madras Weekly Notes
Mys LJ Mysore Law Journal
Nag All India Reporter Nagpur
NLJ Nagpur Law Journal
NLR Nagpur Law Reports
NLR New Law Reports (Ceylon)
NW North-Western Provinces High Court, Allahabad
NWPHC North-West Provinces High Court Reports
or Reports of Cases of the High Court,
North-West Provinces
NWPHCR North-West Provinces High Court Reports
or Reports of Cases of the High Court,
North-West Provinces
NWP (SDA) Sudder Reports of the North-West Provinces
OC Oudh Cases
OLJ Oudh Law Journal
Oudh All India Reporter Oudh
OWN Oudh Weekly Notes
P. Indian Law Reports Patna series
P & D Perry & Davison’s Reports (Eng)
Pat. Indian Law Reports Patna series
Pat. LR Patna Law Reporter
PD Probate, Divorce & Admiralty Division (Eng)
Perry’s OC Cases illustrative of Oriental Life, and of the application
of English Law to India, decided by H.M. Supreme Court
in Bombay, by Sir Erskine Perry, C.J.
Pesh. All India Reporter Peshawar
PHCC Patna High Court Cases
PJ LB Printed Judgments, Lower Burma
PLJ Patna Law Journal
PLR Punjab Law Reporter
PLT Patna Law Times
PLW Patna Law Weekly
Pr. Price’s Reports (Eng)
PR Punjab Record
PWR Punjab Weekly Reporter
QB Queen’s Bench (Eng)
QBD Queen’s Bench Division (Eng)
R. Indian Law Reports Rangoon series
R. & J. Rafique and Jackson’s Oudh
Privy Council Decisions
Ran. Indian Law Reports Rangoon series
Ran. Rangoon Law Reports
Rang. All India Reporter Rangoon
Rang. Indian Law Reports Rangoon series
Rang. LR Rangoon Law Reports
Rat.Un.Cr.Cas. Ratanlal’s Unreported Criminal Cases
Russ. & Ry. Russell & Ryan’s Reports (Eng)
Sar.P.C.J. Saraswati’s Privy Council Judgments
Scots LT Scots Law Times (Scotland)
SDA Reports of cases of the Court of
Sudder Dewany Adawlut,
by W. H. Macnaghten
SDA Sudder Dewanny Adawlut (Bengal)
Sess C Sessions Cases (Scotland)
Sind All India Reporter Sind
SLR Sind Law Reporter
Str. Sir John Strange’s Reports (Eng)
Suth.P.C.J. Sutherland’s Privy Council Judgments
SWR Sutherland’s Weekly Reporter
TLJ Travancore Law Journal
TLR Times Law Reports (Eng)
TravLJ Travancore Law Journal
UBR Upper Burma Reporter
[All India Reporter: Upper
Burma?]
UBR Upper Burma Rulings
UB Rep Upper Burma Reporter
[All India Reporter: Upper
Burma?]
UKPC United Kingdom Privy Council (neutral citation: see explanation here)
Ves. Vesey’s Chancery Reports (Eng)
Ves.Sr. Vesey (Senior’s) Chancery Reports (Eng)
Weir Weir’s Criminal Rulings, Madras
WISA LR Western India States Agency Law Reports
WLR Weekly Law Reports (Eng)
WR Sutherland’s Weekly Reporter
WRFB Sutherland’s Weekly Reporter, Full Bench volume
[version updated on 19 April 2023]