Case Law is developed by the courts, through Judges’ decisions, based on legal disputes. Case Law is also referred to as Common Law and is not based on Legislation. The courts use “the Doctrine of precedent” principle and the arguments are presented in the courts, supported by reference to earlier cases.
Judges decisions are made available in two forms:
1. Reported decisions are published in Law reports which are the written judgements of courts on points of law. They raise significant points of Law or expand on a specific point of Law already published. These decisions are made in superior courts.
2. Unreported Judgments are not published in Law reports, usually because they are either recent judgments or do not contain significant points of Law.
This guide (produced by ANU Library) helps to differentiate between reported, unreported, authorised and unauthorised versions of a case.