''Espinasse's Reports'', formally titled ''Reports of Cases argued and ruled at Nisi Prius, in the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, from E. T., 33 Geo. III, to T. T. 47 Geo. III'', is a collection of
nominate reports Nominate reports, also known as nominative reports, named reports and private reports, is a legal term from common-law jurisdictions referring to the various published collections of reports of English cases in various courts from the Middle Ages t ...
by
Isaac Espinasse, of
nisi prius
''Nisi prius'' () (Latin: "unless before") is a historical term in English law. In the 19th century, it came to be used to denote generally all legal actions tried before judges of the King's Bench Division and in the early twentieth century for ac ...
cases decided between 1793 and 1807. They are in six volumes. They may be cited as "Esp.".
Reprints
These reports are reprinted in volume 170 of the
English Reports
The English Reports is a collection of judgments of the higher English courts between 1220 and 1866.
Overview
The reports are a selection of most nominate reports of judgments of the higher English courts between 1220 and 1866.Glanville Williams, ...
.
Accuracy
Glanville Williams
Glanville Llewelyn Williams (15 February 1911 – 10 April 1997) was a Welsh legal scholar who was the Rouse Ball Professor of English Law at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1978 and the Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University ...
said that this set of nominate reports has received more criticism related to their accuracy than any of the others. When a case from these reports was cited before
Denman C.J., he said:
Pollock C.B. said that Espinasse only heard half of what went on in court and reported the other half. When a case from these reports was cited before
Maule J. he said that he did not care for Espinasse "or any other ass".
Ashton said that:
and that Espinasse went downhill as he got older.
[Arthur Jacob Ashton, ''As I Went on My Way, pp. 27–8]
References
Sets of reports reprinted in the English Reports
{{criminal-law-stub