英文法律词典 R-46

REPORT, legislation. A statement made by a committee to a legislative¹ assembly, of facts of which they were charged to inquire.

REPORT, practice. A certificate to the court made by a master in chancery, commissioner² or other person appointed by the court, of the facts or matters to be ascertained³ by him, or of something of which it is his duty to inform the court.

2. If the parties in the case accede⁴ to the report, find no exceptions are filed, it is in due time confirmed; if exceptions are filed to the report, they will, agreeably to the rules of the court, be heard, and the report will either be confirmed, set aside, or referred. back for the correction of some error. 2 Madd. Ch. 505; Blake's Ch. Pr. 230; Vin. Ab. h. t.

REPORTER. A person employed in making out and publishing the history of cases decided⁵ by the court.

2. The act of congress of August 26, 1842, sect⁶., 2, enacts⁷, that in the supreme⁸ court of the United States, one reporter shall be appointed by the court with the salary of twelve hundred and fifty dollars; provided that he deliver to the secretary of state for distribution, one hundred and fifty copies of each volume of reports that he shall hereafter prepare and publish, immediately after the publication thereof, which publication shall be made annually⁹ within four months after the adjournment¹⁰ of the court at which the decisions are made.

3. In some of the states the reporters are appointed by authority of law; in others, they are volunteers.

REPORTS. Law books, containing a statement of the facts and law of each case which has been decided by the courts; they are generally the most certain proof of the judicial¹¹ decisions of the courts, and contain the most satisfactory evidence, and the most authoritative¹² and precise application of the rules of the common law. Lit. s. 514; Co. Lit. 293 a; 4 Co. Pref.; 1 Bl. Com. 71 Ram¹³. on Judgm. ch. 13.

2. The number of reports has increased to an inconvenient¹⁴ extent, and should they multiply in the same ratio which of late they have done, they will so soon crowd our libraries as to become a serious evil. The indiscriminate re-port of cases of every description is deserving of censure¹⁵. Cases where first principles are declared to be the law, are reported with as much care as those where the most abstruse¹⁶ questions are decided. But this is not all; sometimes two reporters, with the true spirit of book-making, report the same set of cases, and thereby¹⁷ not only unnecessarily increase the lawyer's already encumbered¹⁸ library, but create confusion by the discrepancies¹⁹ which occasionally appear in the report of the same case.

3. The modern reports are too often very diffuse²⁰ and inaccurate²¹. They seem too frequently made up for the purpose of profit and sale, much of the matter they contain being either useless or a mere²² repetition, while they are deficient²³ in stating what is really important.

4. A report ought to contain, 1. The name of the case. 2. The court in which it originated; and, when it has been taken to another by appeal, certiorari, or writ²⁴ of error, it ought to mention by whom it was so taken, and by what proceeding²⁵. 3. The state of the facts, including the pleadings, as far as requisite²⁶. 4. The true point before the court. 5. The manner in which that point has been determined²⁷, and by whom. 6. The date.

5. The following is believed to be a correct list of the American and English Reports; the former arranged under the heads of the respective states; and the latter in chronological²⁸ order. It is hoped this list will be useful to the student.