3.1 Principles for citing cases
(a) Neutral citations
Where a neutral citation is available, use it before and in addition to any reported citation. Separate the neutral and reported citations with a comma.
Neutral citations identify judgments independently of any report series, and cite only parties, year of judgment, court and case number. For example:
Eg AstraZeneca Ltd v Commerce Commission [2009] NZSC 92.
Neutral citations are given by the court issuing the judgment and usually appear on the first page of the judgment. They are a relatively recent innovation. For information concerning when New Zealand neutral citations were adopted see rule 3.3.3(b).
(b) Order of preference
In addition to the neutral citation, give a citation to a single report series if available. Where a case is reported in multiple report series, the order of preference of report series is:
1. Official law reports (in New Zealand the official law reports are the New Zealand Law Reports); and
2. Unofficial law reports.
If a case is not reported in a report series, give only the neutral citation. If the case does not have a neutral citation, use the file number citation method.