CERTIFICATE

COURSE
on
CASE BRIEF
MAKING

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 Case Briefing

Case Brief Making is an art and anyone can excel in the same
with continuous efforts and practice. The object of case briefing is to
summarize and do qualitative analysis of the judgements. The skill
of case briefing will help you gain knowledge about different
provisions of law, its interpretations and applications. The case
briefing often helps to understand and learn more about the judges
and the judgement writing skills. As a student the skill of case
briefing will help not only in exams but also throughout your
presentations in any debates as well as moot courts. In order to
learn and understand the skill of case briefing in effective manner
we have framed some guidelines

Read the Judgement

Reading forms important part of understanding any literature,

to be more specific informed reading. First element of case briefing
is to understanding the case. Read the judgement completely at
least twice (or at least until understood what the case is all about).
On third reading start noting important points. Identify the
Plaintiff/Appellant/Complainant and Defendant/Respondent, the
subject matter if the case (Property, partition, IPR, Criminal law,
Consumer, writ etc.), jurisdiction (in which court), Provisions of the
law etc.
 Stick to the Format

There is no ideal format as such for case briefing. One may

choose to brief the case the way he/she desires. It is significant to
cover all the aspects of case briefing, to make it easier we have come
up with the format which will cover all the aspects of an ideal brief.
The format for Case Brief is as follows:

1. The Title

2. Case Name

3. Case Number/Citation

4. Court

5. Forum/Bench

6. Decided on

7. The Relevant Statutes (with relevant provisions of

the Acts)

8. Brief Facts & Procedural History

9. The Issue(s) of the Case

10. The Observations of the Court/Commission

11. The Decision Held by the Court/Commission

12. Author of the Brief

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 Explaining the Format

The Title

The title is one-line sentence which sums up or highlights the

gist of given judgement. Title can also be landmark opinion of the
honourable court in the judgement. It is necessary to provide your
brief a suitable and appropriate title, as the title is summary of your
case brief in one line. Title should be decided only after whole
judgement is briefed.

E.g. The preventive detention laws cannot be invoked as an

easy way method bypassing the ordinary law.

Case Name

Here, the names of parties in the judgement should be

mentioned. Many a times court decides different cases with similar
issue together, in such case you should mention parties of one case
only and write ‘with similar cases’ in the brackets.

E.g. Bachan Singh V. State of Punjab

ABC V. XYZ (with 3 other similar cases)

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Case Number/ Citation

This is the case number with year of filing the case. You can
find citation o the first page of the judgement. Here, also
remember whether the present judgement is appeal or writ or
filed in original jurisdiction (this will help you frame your facts and
procedural history). It also includes citation in popular journals if
available.

E.g. Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 194 of 2017

(1980) 2 SCC 684

Court/Commission

The name of the honorable Court or Commission who has

pronounce the judgement should be mentioned under this head.

E.g. The Supreme Court of India

The Bombay High Court

National Green Tribunal

Forum/Bench

Names of all the judges presiding over. You can locate the
names either on the very first page or the last page of the judgement
copy.

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 E.g. Justice D Y Chndrachud

Justice Indu Malhotra

Decided on

This includes the date on which the judgement was pronounced.

You can find the date of pronouncement either on first page or last
page.

E.g. 20th August 2020

Relevant Statutes

Various Acts or Rules & Regulations considered in the

judgement should be mentioned under this head (also mention
relevant Sections).

E.g. Section 302, Indian Penal Code, 1860

Article 21 of the Constitution of India

Brief Facts & Procedural History

Most of the times Court itself clearly outlines the facts and
many times you might have to gather facts from Arguments of the
respective Advocates. In either case when writing a case brief,
never parrot the court’s language word-for-word; instead, you

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should always paraphrase the court’s language into plain English.
Be mindful of the purpose of a case brief, which is to gain a clearer
understanding of the case.

You must search for and distinguish what facts really matter
for the court decision. Here we disregard information that doesn’t
have any bearing of a court decision. Reading the facts that case is
dealing with helps to eliminate elements that are not relevant to
the court’s decision. The important task is to filter Relevant Facts
from the pool of facts. For the same consider following elements
while determining relevant facts:

1. The cause of action (a fact or facts that enable a person to

bring an action against another)

2. The operative facts of the case that led to the dispute

between the parties.

3. If in appeal, the short procedural history.

4. Consideration and decision of previous court against

which the party has moved to present court.

Re-read the case and this time identify the parties, important dates,
places etc. and mark the relevant facts.

The Issue(s) of the Case

Issues means to identify what is in dispute. It is the key

question the court has to decide in a field of law. Note that it is a

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legal question. You must spot the issue and articulate the jest in a
question. Most of the times the court will state that legal issue.
Mention the relevant Sections/Articles/Rules/Order.

While determining issues, focus on main issue (to which

court will answer in Decision Held) and not the subordinate issue.
Your issue statement should also include the specific facts relevant
to that issue, for example, “Did the police have a right to search the
Defendant's trunk when he was not under arrest and did not give
consent?” When there is more than one issue, each issue should be
stated separately in your brief.

The Observations of the Court/Commission

Ratio is in short you have to describe how the Court arrived at

its decision. What facts did it consider and how did it apply the law
to those facts? Walk the reader through the Court's reasoning, one-
step at a time. Sometimes people also call it analysis or reasoning.

Organize your brief. Present a systematic play of the Court's

logic. Your analysis should be organized so that the reader can
follow the Court's reasoning from beginning to end. Why the Court
ruled the way it did is the most important part of the case, and the
reader must be able to understand it by reading your brief instead
of the case, especially in the case of an appeal. Mention Rules or
Legal Principles relied by the Court in order to come to decision.
The rule of law should never be fact-specific. It should answer the
dispositive legal question being posed in the case. Put differently,

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the rule of law should be the legal issue in the case phrased as a
statement.

Legal frameworks, tests, and principles should be clearly

articulated and applied to the facts of the case. You should always
explain the rationale behind the legal principles being applied in
the case. In fact, perhaps the most common mistake case briefers
make in the holding and reasoning section is to omit explanation of
the rule.

Use citations. Your analysis should include all relevant

citations to other cases, statutes, and rules the Court considered
when arriving at its decision. More often than not, all of the
citations contained in the opinion are relevant and should be used
in your brief (cite only those cases on the basis of which honorable
court has given the judgement).

Use your own words. Your analysis should avoid simply

repeating the Court's words, except in cases where the exact
language is important. In those cases, use quotation marks, and
make it clear that you are quoting the Court.

Describe any dissenting or concurring opinions. Oftentimes a

Justice who is not in agreement with the majority will write a
dissenting opinion or case analysis. Sometimes a Justice who is in
agreement with the majority will write his or her own case analysis.
If there is a dissenting or concurring opinion, a summary should be
included in your case brief.

Party’s Arguments. You may or may not include arguments of

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the relevant parties to the case. (If the brief is becoming lengthy
then, avoid. Add only landmark argument which court considered)

Remember, while describing the Judgment of the case,

distinguish it from the Holding. The Judgment is the factual
determination by the court, in favor of one party. In contrast, the
Holding is the applied rule of law that serves as the basis for the
ultimate judgment. (In your brief you have to balance the
contentions).

To recap, the holding and reasoning section of your case brief

should contain the following information (if obtainable in the
casebook):

1. Observation of the court;

2. The relevant legal principles and rules used to decide the

case;

3. The application of those principles to the facts of the case;

4. The names of any seminal cases or important statutes

used by the majority in its opinion;

5. Dissenting opinions;

6. Arguments of the respective Counsels (If required).

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The Decision Held by the Court/Commission

The conclusion and procedural disposition of the case should

be stated at the end. It is a short statement saying the court
affirmed or reversed the case and what held. It’s time to say who
won and who lost. This section also includes directions given by
honorable court to either party.

Author of the Brief

You.

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RULES OF
SUBMISSION
Font: Times New Roman

Font Size: 12

Line Spacing: 1.5

Alignment: Justified

Follow grammar rules and check spellings.

Do not make additions other than given in the given Judgement.

Do not write wrong facts or wrong legal explanations.

Stick to the format made available to you.

Do not change the zest of the judgment.

The language of the summary can be relaxed but the meaning

should not change.

Submit your brief via Google Classroom in MS-WORD file.

Name your file as – (YourName_BriefNo.) e.g. RanbirKapoor_1

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