Introduction to the different types of legal literature The University of Glasgow Library Knowledge Base Introduction to the different types of legal literature

Law students are required to use lots of different types of legal materials in both print and electronic formats – it can seem pretty overwhelming at first working out how to find them! In this resource we are going to concentrate specifically on the following types of legal materials Legislation Cases Institutional Writings Journal articles Books Parliamentary materials You will find links to detailed information about finding & using the different types of legal materials in each section of this resource Different types of legal literature

1. Legislation The most important source of law in contemporary society is legislation or statute law, followed by precedent or case law. The most obvious difference between legislation and case law is who makes it: legislation is made by legislatures (parliaments) and case law by the courts One of the complications of studying Scots law is that there are now three levels of legislation with which you need to be familiar: UK Parliament at Westminster makes laws for the United Kingdom Scottish Parliament at Holyrood makes laws (within certain limits) only for Scotland European Union, acting through various institutions, laws for all its member states. 1. Legislation

1 . Legislation – UK & Scottish Parliaments - Print Legislation is what is passed by Parliament – which is split into primary (Acts) and secondary types (Statutory Instruments) The Library has an extensive collection of printed Legislation from both the Holyrood and Westminster Parliaments which you’ll find on Level 7 of the Main Library Print copies of Acts and Statutory Instruments cannot be borrowed and must be used in the Library. 1. Legislation - UK & Scotland Print

1 . Legislation – UK & Scottish Parliaments Online Online access to UK & Scottish Parliament statutes is available from several sources The best online source is Westlaw UK which has both fully-updated & historical versions of all acts & statutory instruments passed by the UK & Scottish Parliaments Library Knowledge Base For help accessing & using legislation online see : Finding & Using Statutes Legislation – UK & Scotland online

1 . Legislation – European Union The terms ‘primary legislation’ and ‘secondary legislation’ are used in a different sense in European Union law from that used in domestic law. Primary legislation are the Treaties   The three types of secondary legislation are   Regulations Directives Decisions Legislation – European Union

1 . Legislation – European Union Online access to European Union legislation is available from several sources, including Westlaw. The easiest to use online source for EU legislation is EurLex. EUR-Lex provides free access, in the 24 official EU languages: the Official Journal of the European Union EU law (EU treaties, directives, regulations, decisions, consolidated legislation, etc.) preparatory acts (legislative proposals, reports, green and white papers, etc.) EU case-law (judgements, orders, etc.) international agreements http://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html Legislation – EU legislation online

2 . Cases The legal system relies heavily on case law and so a systematic way of making the decisions of the courts available for study has been developed – known as law reporting. Originally, there was only one type of law reporting: the publication of printed reports of cases. Today reports are also widely available in online. 2 . Cases - Print

2 . Cases There is a hierarchy or ranking of Law Reports and a distinction between ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ reports. The term ‘official reports’ refers to reports that have been revised by judges before publication and may also offer additional content: they sometimes include excerpts from the arguments made by counsel, which can be helpful in understanding a case. The official reports are regarded as the most authoritative. In Scotland, the official reports are the Session Cases (which include reports of Justiciary cases and of Scottish cases in the House of Lords and Supreme Court) published by the Scottish Council of Law Reporting. In England, the official reports series (Appeal Cases, Queen’s Bench Reports etc.) are published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting. Unofficial reports are produced by a variety of commercial firms including LexisNexis and Sweet & Maxwell. Nevertheless, other series such as the Scots Law Times and the Scottish Criminal Case Reports are highly respected and often carry decisions that have not been published elsewhere. Not all cases are reported in an authorised law report. 2. Cases - Not all Law reports are the same!

2. Cases - Case citations Houston v BBC 1995 S.C. 433 The structure of legal citations and abbreviations is consistent and straightforward – so once you’ve worked out what each component of the citation is telling you then you’ll be half way there! Learning what the abbreviations stand for is a bit more tricky but there are plenty of tools to help you, and there are many common series of law reports which you’ll deal with on a daily basis, so you’ll begin to recognise them very quickly. Library Knowledge Base For more detail on deciphering case citations check out the Knowledge Base Guide: Understanding Legal Citations & Abbreviations 2. Case citations

2. Cases – Print collections The Library has an extensive collection of print Law reports which you’ll find on Level 7 of the Main Library – Law Reports cannot be borrowed and must be used in the Library. They are arranged alphabetically by title – so once you know what the abbreviation of the case citation stands for just go to the shelves and find the case! 2. Cases - Print

2. Cases Online The majority of the cases you will need to read can also be found on one of the legal databases the Library subscribes to; which one depends on who owns the publishing rights to specific series of law reports your case appears in. It is worth spending a little time getting used to Which sources appear where – remember you access these databases via the Library website. The two most heavily used and popular ones are Westlaw UK & LexisLibrary – you need to get to grips with using these as soon as! Library Knowledge Base For help accessing & using online case reports see : Cases – Using Online Sources 2. Cases - Online

2. Want to know more about law reporting in Scotland? The Scottish Council of Law Reporting has Commissioned a series of five linked short films about law reporting in Scotland and the place of law reports in Scottish legal practice. The celebrated case of Donoghue v. Stevenson provides a theme to explain the role of precedent in the work of lawyers and the courts. It’s a useful introduction To understanding the role of law reports as a primary source of law. The five films are: Donoghue v. Stevenson: The History of Law Reporting The Law of Judges: Precedent and the Criteria for the Reporting of Cases Anatomy of the Law: The Authority, Authorship and Arrangement of Session Cases In the Case Of: Using the Reports Books and Bytes: Accessing the Reports http://www.scottishlawreports.org.uk/ 2. Want to know more about law reporting in Scotland?

Sir James Dalrymple, Viscount of Stair 3. Institutional Writings A number of works by academic authors, called institutional writers, have been identified as formal sources of law in Scotland since at least the 19th century.  Written over a period of 150 years, from the mid-17th to the early 19th centuries, certain writers produced systematic treatments covering large areas of Scots law. Viscount Stair, Institutions of the Law of Scotland (1681) generally regarded as the greatest of the institutional writings. Sir Thomas Craig, Ius Feudale (1655) Sir George MacKenzie, Laws and Customs of Scotland in Matters Criminal (1678) Sir George Mackenzie, Institutions of the Law of Scotland (1684) Lord Bankton, An Institute of the Law of Scotland (1751-1753) Lord Kames, Principles of Equity (1760) John Erskine, an Institute of the Law of Scotland (1772) and perhaps also his Principles of the Law of Scotland (1759) Baron David Hume, Commentaries on the Law of Scotland Respecting the Description and Punishment of Crimes (1797) George Joseph Bell, Commentaries on the Law of Scotland and Principles of Mercantile Jurisprudence (1804) and Principles of the Law of Scotland (1829) Archibald Allison, Principles of the Criminal law of Scotland (1833)   Sir James Dalrymple, Viscount of Stair https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15855559 3. Institutional Writings

3. Institutional Writings A number of Institutional writings are available to read online through Google Books or on databases such as Historical texts and Scottish Legal History on HeinOnline. Printed copies of the various editions of all of the major texts are available in the Library and you can find through the Specific Book Search on the Library website. Please note, that you should use copies listed as being available from Level 7 Law Collections and the not those in Special Collections. 3. Institutional Writings – print and online

4. Books Books are an important source of legal information and the Library has tens of thousands of law books and ebooks! Finding books in the Library is easy! -- there are a few ways of doing this, but the simplest way is to use the Specific Book Search option from the library home page. Library Knowledge Base For help accessing books & ebooks see : Finding Books 4. Books

5. Journal articles Journal articles are not a formal source of law, but are, nontheless, a key source of information. They provide academic commentary on a subject and learn about some of the debates going on. They are published regularly throughout the year, with each issue identified by a volume number and an issue number. The Library provides access to thousands of legal journals from Scotland, the UK and worldwide. Most are now available in electronic format only, but we still have a very large collection of print titles Library Knowledge Base For help accessing journal articles see : Finding Legal Journal Articles 5. Journal articles

6. Official publications While not formal legal sources, ‘Official‘ or government documents will be something that you will use during your legal studies. Official publications include documents and reports issued by parliaments or government departments and agencies of international organisations such as the United Nations or the European Union. Google is probably the best way to locate contemporary government information that you know exists and there are specialist databases that provide access to the historical materials. The Library has excellent UK & Scottish Parliament collections and European Union & Council of Europe print collections – these include: Parliamentary Debates Reports of Parliamentary committees Government White and Green papers Reports of judicial inquiries Reports of authoritative bodies European Union documents Council of Europe documents CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47976505 Library Knowledge Base For more detailed information see: Official Publications 6. Official Publications

College Librarians for Law are Kay Munro & Lynn Irvine Kay.Munro@glasgow.ac.uk Lynn.Irvine@glasgow.ac.uk We are very happy to meet with you if you want to find out more about using databases and other Library resources Getting help with all this

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