Case naming guidelines
The following Case Naming guidelines are based on case naming conventions in common law countries
The case name is the part of the title of a published judgment which generally refers to the main parties involved in a case, according to the names of the parties laid out in the decision’s heading in full.
Case names in civil cases are always captured as
Surname v Surname
Versus is always abbreviated to either v or vs or Vrs depending on the legal tradition For example: South Africa uses v Tanzania uses vs Ghana uses Vrs
Various rules apply to the construction of case names in criminal cases and cases involving juristic persons, government departments and things.
For example: Republic versus Smith becomes R v Smith
Where there are two people/parties as either Plaintiffs/Applicants or Defendants/Respondents, the first surname is followed by ‘and Another’.
Where there are more than two people as either Plaintiffs/Applicants or Defendants/Respondents, the first surname is followed by ‘and Others’.
Font style
Proper capitalization of names should be applied. Using full capitals in case names is highly undesirable and should be avoided. The practice of using full caps in capturing parties’ can lead to confusion as to the correct spelling of the names of the parties.
e.g. MACDOUGALL” and “MacDougall”
Language
The case name is created in the same language as the reasons for decision it is assigned to. When a party has a bilingual name, only the name corresponding to the language of the reasons is retained.
Many cases
When the decision involves many cases, the case name refers to all listed cases, separated by semi-colon
Between:
Smith, Plaintiff
Jones, Defendant
And between:
Roe, Plaintiff
Wade, Defendant
Smith v Jones; Roe v Wade
Name of a Party
The case name refers to a party by a standardised or abbreviated name, as specified in the following subsections, depending upon the party’s type, namely: individual, organization or government body. All attempts should be made to ensure that a party is referred to consistently in all proceedings and cases in which this party is involved.
Party name
Natural persons
Individuals are referred to only by their surname as presented in the decision’s heading, except as otherwise stated in the following subsections. The first name and initials are omitted as well as any title, alias or other descriptive term.
Robert T. McTeague Jr., SC
McTeague
Terry Sean deWitt (a.k.a. Ross)
deWitt
Mr. Robert Lepage-Johnson, Esq.
Lepage-Johnson
Mrs. Deborah Van de Wiel, a bankrupt
Van de Wiel
Capt. Ali Mohammed Abu Sheika
Abu Sheika
Note
In case of uncertainty about how to segregate the surname from the full name – which might happen more often for names with particles, traditional names or names of foreign origin – try to find hints in the decision’s text or try to locate other decisions involving this party. When still in doubt, retain only the last word of the individual’s full name.
Legal persons
Legal persons are entities that are involved in litigation. They include companies, government entities, civil society organisations, trusts, etc.
Close Corporations are usually followed by the acronym ‘CC’. Remember that the ‘CC’ has to be in UPPER CASE.
Companies are usually followed by ‘(Pty) Ltd’ (for a private company) or ‘Ltd’ (for a public company). These should be included in the case name. If a company trades under another name, then the words ‘trading as’ become simply ‘t/a’.
Examples:
Absa Bank (Pty) Ltd v Accelerate Prop Fund Ltd
Wireless Business Solutions (Pty) Limited t/a iBurst
The category of legal persons also includes government ministers when they are named by their title and not by the name of the individual who currently holds that title, e.g. Minister of Police (as opposed to Bheki Cele).
Example:
Absa Bank (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Finance
Leave out the word ‘the’ when naming such an entity e.g. ‘The Member of the Executive Council’ becomes only ‘Member of the Executive Council’.
Example:
Paramount Mills (Pty) Ltd v Competition Commission (as opposed to ‘The Competition Commission’)
Estates of deceased persons are referred to by adding “Estate” before the surname of the deceased person.
Example:
Estate Smith v Naidoo
Ex Parte Matters
In some matters, a person or group of persons makes an application to the court where there is no dispute of fact and therefore no opposing side, such as when someone applies to be admitted as an attorney or someone applies for their insolvent estate to be surrendered. These matters are called ex parte matters. An ex parte application is often connected to another ongoing matter, and this means the citation must include both the ex parte case name and the name of the case it’s related to. For example, a person may apply to be joined in litigation that initially didn’t include them, or a litigant may apply for property in the possession of their debtor to be attached on an urgent basis in the middle of a civil suit. The case name then starts with the words “Ex Parte:” (note the colon), followed by the applicant/s name/s, and then the case name of the connected matter follows after a semicolon and the words “In Re:”.
Examples:
Ex Parte: Mahlangu
Ex Parte: Mahlangu and Others
Ex Parte: R M and Another; In Re: R M and Another v Absa Bank (Pty) Ltd and Others
Ex Parte: Special Investigating Unit and Another; In Re: Special Investigating Unit and Another v Ndlovu and Others
Unknown or Anonymous Person
Unknown or anonymous persons are referred to by the full fictitious name or set of initials used in the decision’s heading, without modification. In rare instances where an individual is not named in the decision, a standard term such as “Unnamed person .
Examples
Party named in the decision’s heading
Party named in the case name
Jane Doe and other persons unknown
Jane Doe but not Doe
Mr. X, A Patient at Regional Mental Health Care (Windsor)
Mr. X but not X
D.S., an infant
D.S. but not S.(D.)
Estate of a Deceased Person
Etates of deceased persons are referred to by preceding “Estate” after the surname of the deceased person.
Examples
The Estate of Robert Leonard Todd
Estate Todd
Note
The name of an executor or administrator representing the estate as well as the name of a public trustee acting for the estate should be omitted unless they are also acting personally in the proceedings.
Individual Acting in an Official Capacity
An individual whose name appears in the decision’s heading merely because of his or her office in an organization or government body, does not act personally. Therefore, the case name should not refer to this individual but to the organization or government body for which he or she is acting in the case.
Examples
Robert Brighton, C.E.O. of RB Corporation
RB Corporation
Mike Perry, director of West Bay Child and Family Services
West Bay Child and Family Services
Max O’Connor, in his capacity as chair of the Disciplinary Board of Kingston Penitentiary
Kingston Penitentiary
Chief of Police John Smith (Toronto Police Service)
Toronto Police Service
Patrick Sellers, Deputy Minister of the Priorities and Planning Secretariat
Nova Scotia (Priorities and Planning Secretariat)
The Honourable Peter Fox, in his capacity as Member of Parliament for Ottawa South
Canada (Parliament)
The Honourable Jason Welsh M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons
Canada (House of Commons)
The Honourable Robert Solomon, Provincial Court Judge
Manitoba (Provincial Court)
Jim Many Grey Horses, Chief of the Beaver First Nation
Beaver First Nation
An alternative style of naming litigants acting in official capacity is to append ‘N.O’, which stands for Nomine Officio, to the surname of the individual. If there is more than one person whose name is followed by N.O., then we use ‘N.N.O.’ This is the practice of case naming in southern Africa.
Examples:
Dr George Ntsikelelo Mahlangu III suing as Director of Christian Barnaard Hospital becomes ‘Mahlangu N.O.’
Note
When an individual is acting both personally and in an official capacity in the case, then the case name refers to this individual when named first.
Ship, Aircraft and Other In Rem Party
When a party listed in the decision’s heading is a thing and no owner is named as a party, this party is referred to by this thing’s name or other identifier – e.g. trademark, model and serial number –, followed between parentheses by a descriptive term such as “Ship” or “Aircraft”, as it appears in the decision’s heading. The name of a ship or vessel should be reproduced as presented in the decision’s heading, including definite articles such as “The” and “Le” if they are part of the name.
Examples
The Owners and all others interested in the Ship “The JENNIE Q”
The Jennie Q (Ship)
The Vessel “M/V Ralph Misener” and the owners and all others interested in this Vessel
M/V Ralph Misener (Vessel)
The wrecked and abandoned Boeing SB-17G aircraft, Serial No. 44-83790, its apparel and cargo, its owners and its charterers
Boeing SB-17G, Serial No. 44-83790 (Aircraft)
Multiple parties
It’s often the case that there will be more than one person on either side of a matter. Where there are two people, the first surname is followed by ‘and Another’. Where there are more than two people, the first surname is followed by ‘and Others’.
Uniform Protection of Identities (Anonymizing)
When the identity of a person named in the case name must legally remain undisclosed at some point in court proceedings, the same identity protection should continue throughout any subsequent proceeding in this case as well as in any citation made to this case in other decisions.
The law is not explicit in stating the types of persons whose identity must be protected in published decisions. Special attention should be paid to:
- Persons accused of criminal sex offences, where their name could lead to the identification of a complainant or child witness;
- Children and parents involved in proceedings regarding family and child protection;
- Young offenders.
Where it is considered to be appropriate to avoid using a name in a decision, the name should be replaced with initials (e.g., “M.L. v. D.L.”).
In very rare instances where initials, combined with the facts of the case, would clearly reveal the identity of an individual or of an organization, the letter “X” is used to replace the name instead of initials. For an additional individual or organization, the letter “Y” is used for the second individual/organization named, then “Z” for the third, “A” for the fourth, “B” for the fifth, and so on.
The same initials are used to replace each occurrence of an individual or an organization’s name throughout the judgment, including cover pages and summaries, even if there are variations in the way this individual/organization is referred to in the decision.
If the judge has expressly used a fictitious name to replace a real name, this fictitious name must be used throughout the decision.
When the name of an individual must be replaced, the full initials of the name are used: one initial for each forename and one initial for the surname.
Only one initial is used for a compound or hyphenated forename or surname.
Mary Jane Davis
M.J.D.
Linda S. St-James
L.S.S.
Kate van de Wiel
K.V.
John McKeown
J.M.
Sean O’Neil
S.O.
Lisa-Marie Corne-Pretorius
L.C.
Simon B. van der Westhuizen
S.B.W.
To avoid confusion between many individuals who have the same initials, a fictitious initial is added after the first forename of the other persons named in the decision that have the same initials. This fictitious initial is the second letter of the person’s first forename for the second one named, the third letter for the third named, and so on.
John McKeown and James Morgan
J.M. and J.A.M.
Mary Jane Davis and Mark John Dalton
M.J.D. and M.A.J.D.
Mary, Mark and Mario Davis
M.D., M.A.D. and M.R.D.
Name of an Organization
When the name of an organization is to be avoided (e.g., for a person’s employer, a business, a community or a school), only its first initial is used, followed by omission marks.
Fidentia
F…
Buddy’s Moto and Household Repair CC
B…
Sydney Steel Corporation
S…
Cape Town Municipality
C...
To avoid confusion between two organizations which are being referred to by initials but have the same initial, a second letter is added to the initial of the name of the second organization named in the decision that has the same initial. This second letter is the second letter of the organization’s name for the second one named, the third letter for the third named, and so on.
Fidentia and Finport (Pty) Ltd
F… and F.I….
Fidentia, Finport (Pty) Ltd and Funk
F…, F.I…. and F.N….
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