Most law professors cite cases using the SCRA (Supreme Court Reports Annotated) method.
Cases are actually identified by their G.R. Numbers. (I believe it stands for "General Register" or something.) However, G.R. Nos. are assigned to a case upon filing, not upon decision. This means that a chronological list of decided cases will not necessarily have the G.R. Nos. in order.
The SCRA, a compendium of Supreme Court decisions, used to be the sole source of cases for law students. This was of course during pre-internet days. When someone wanted to photocopy a certain case, all they had to know was the SCRA citation, so they could find the correct SCRA volume and page number.
But those days are gone. Nowadays, cases can be found on God's gift to mankind─the internet. So if a professor asks you to look for a case, he/she shouldn't provide you with the SCRA citation. That's like so old school. The jurisprudence databases do not use the SCRA citation. They use G.R. Nos.
So again, law professors (except for Professor Avena), the year is 2011. You should provide your students with the G.R. No. of cases. If you want to provide both G.R. Nos. and SCRA citations, you are welcome to do so. But please. G.R. Nos. That is all I ask.
*Y U No Macro created 22 Jul 2011.
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