17.1  Ten copies of all authorities that may be needed during the hearing must be lodged at the same time as the bound volumes. The authorities should be collected together into one or more volumes. The appellants are responsible for producing the authorities volumes and lodging them at the Judicial Office. To enable the appellants to lodge the volumes, the respondents must provide the appellants with ten copies of any authorities which the respondents require but which the appellants do not, or arrange with the appellants for their photocopying. Respondents should arrange with the appellants for the delivery to them of such authorities volumes as the respondents' counsel and agents require.

Form and content of authorities volumes

17.2  The authorities volumes should:

(a)  be A4 size, comb bound with green card covers;

(b)  have flexible covers;

(c)  separate each authority in the volume by numbered dividers;

(d)  contain an index to that volume; the first volume must also contain an index to all the volumes;

(e)  be numbered consecutively on the cover and spine with numerals at least point 72 in size for swift identification of different volumes during the hearing;

(f)  have printed clearly on the front cover the title of the appeal and the names of the agents for all parties;

(g)  have affixed to the plastic spine a sticker indicating clearly the volume number and short title of the appeal;

(h)  include a few blank pages at either end;

(i)  not be more than 2½cm (1 inch) thick.

17.3  The first volume(s) should contain citations from the C and L series of the Official Journal of the European Union; the Law Reports; the All England Reports; the Weekly Law Reports; Session Cases; the Scots Law Times; and the current edition of Halsbury's Laws. Subsequent volumes should contain all other material. In an appeal where there is a large number of authorities volumes, it is helpful to produce an index of indexes, separate from the index contained in the first authorities volume.

17.4  The authorities volumes should be lodged in the Judicial Office in separate containers from the bound volumes.

17.5  Where a case is not reported in the Law Reports or Session Cases, references to other recognised reports may be given (see direction 15.6). In Revenue appeals, Tax Cases may be cited but, wherever possible, references to the case in the Law Reports or Session Cases should also be given.

17.6  In order to produce the authorities volumes, parties may download text from electronic sources; but the authorities volumes may only be lodged in paper form.

17.7  In certain circumstances (for example, when during the hearing before the Appellate Committee it becomes apparent that a particular authority is needed but is not in the authorities volume), the House of Lords Library can arrange for copies of authorities to be made available at the hearing[63]. Parties must themselves provide ten copies of any other authority or of unreported cases. They must similarly provide copies of any authority of which notice has not been given.

17.8  The cost of preparing the authorities volumes falls to the appellants, but is ultimately subject to the decision of the House as to the costs of the appeal.