SC(E) – Supreme Court, when hearing appeals from the courts of England and Wales QBD – Queen’s Bench Division (of the High Court) QASA – Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates POC – Person of colour (North American usage).
POA – Plea Only Advocates: an advocate qualified only to represent a client who wishes to plead guilty (now renamed NTAs or Non Trial Advocates). PI – Personal injury (in the context of claims for damages) PDA – Probate, Divorce and Admiralty (former division of the High Court) PCN – Penalty Charge Notice, usually for parking in the wrong place, driving in the Congestion Zone without paying, or some other fixed-penalty infringement PATAS – Parking and Traffic Appeals Service, hears appeals from motorists against penalty charge notices etc PACE – Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 P – President (after a the surname of the President of a High Court division) OCOF – One Case One Fee: the system under which an advocate is paid a flat fee regardless of the complexity or duration of the case NTA – Non Trial Advocate (see also POA), an advocate who can only represent a client who pleads guilty (eg for mitigation). NIRC – National Industrial Relations Court MLA – Member of the Legislative Assembly (of Northern Ireland) LSS – Litigation and Settlements Strategy (of HMRC) LSB – Legal Services Board, the regulator (or super regulator) of legal regulators LJJ – Lords and/or Ladies Justices (plural, after listing their surnames) LJ – Lord Justice, Lady Justice (appearing after the surname) LIP – Litigant in person (sometimes known as self-represented litigant)
LCCSA – London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association LASPO – Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (sometimes LASPOA) JJSC – Justices of the Supreme Court (plural, after listing their titles) JSC – Justice of the Supreme Court (after his or her title) JJ – Justices (plural, after listing their surnames) JC – Judicial Committee (of the Privy Council) JAG – Joint Advocacy Group, consisting of representatives of the BSB, SRA and IPS J – Justice (after a High Court judge’s name, as an abbreviation for Mr / Mrs Justice) IT – Industrial Tribunal (former name of Employment Tribunal)
IPS – Ilex Professional Standards, the regulator of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives IPReg – Intellectual Property Regulation Board, the regulator for ITMA and CIPA ICTA – Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 HMSO – Her Majesty’s Stationery Office – official printers of government publications GDPR – General Data Protection Regulaton (EU) Note that it does NOT include the abbreviations commonly used in legal citations, or in corporate names, which we have listed elsewhere.Īdmin Ct – Administrative Court (part of the Queen’s Bench Division)ĪG – Advocate General (in European Court of Justice)īSB – Bar Standards Board, created by the Bar Council as the regulator of barristersĬ – Chancellor (after the surname of the Chancellor of the High Court, Chancery Division)ĬACD – Court of Appeal, Criminal DivisionĬh – Chancellor (as a judge of an ecclesiastical court)Ĭh D – Chancery Division (of the High Court)ĬIPA – Chartered Institute of Patent AttorneysĬLSA – Criminal Law Solicitors’ AssociationĬJEC – Court of Justice of the European Communities (in Luxembourg)ĬJEU – Court of Justice of the European Union (in Luxembourg)ĬLC – Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the regulator for licensed conveyancersĬLSB – Costs Lawyer Standards Board, regulator for the ACLĬPD – Continuing professional development, a system for ensuring professionals maintain their standards of competenceĬt of Sess – Court of Session (in Scotland)ĭC – Divisional Court (usually, but not exclusively, of the Queen’s Bench Division)ĮCHR – European Convention on Human RightsĮCtHR (or ECHR) – European Court of Human Rights (in Strasbourg)ĮCJ – European Court of Justice (in Luxembourg aka Court of Justice of the European Communities / Union)įam D – Family Division (of the High Court) This entry lists some common and less common legal acronyms, initialisms and other abbreviations used in England and Wales.
For example, BBC is an initialism for British Broadcasting Corporation.īoth initialisms and (to a lesser extent) acronyms used to be punctuated with full stops, as would other abbreviations (eg Mr used to appear as Mr.) and this may be how they appear in older law reports and commentary. For example, NATO is an acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.Īn initialism is an abbreviated name or description composed of the first letters of the full name or description, pronounced as a set of initials rather than a word. An acronym is a word or name composed of the first letters of each word of a title or description.