Conducted by: Carol Wee Contents by: Bissy & Su-Lin 12 th Aug 2014

 Library collection  Secondary resources  Electronic resources  C J Koh Law Library home page 

The C J Koh Law Library has a rich collection of local, foreign and international legal resources. The library’s traditional strength is in the common law. Apart from a comprehensive collection of Singapore legal materials, the library also has extensive collections of legal resources from Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The library has developed collections on comparative and international law, international trade law as well as the laws of the European Community. The library’s print collection is bolstered by subscriptions to online legal resources which are available via the NUS Libraries Portal Major databases include HeinOnline, Justishttp://libportal.nus.edu.sg/ and LexisNexis.

Secondary sources are publications which refer and relate to the law, but are not themselves sources of law. These include: 1. Textbooks, casebooks, etc. 2. Legal encyclopaedias 3. Legal periodicals 4. Research literature. E.g. Theses 5. Reference works. E.g. Dictionaries, directories, bibliographies, digests, citators, indexes, etc. Secondary sources  assist in locating relevant primary sources of law  assist in the interpretation of relevant primary sources.

Secondary sources are important:  In legal research, referring to a secondary source is often the first step in the learning the basics of a particular area of law;  Thorough legal research requires the use of the various categories of secondary sources;  Secondary sources may be cited in court in support of a particular proposition in law - a court may not be bound by secondary authorities, but books or articles written by eminent authors of reputable standing may have significant persuasive value in selecting between conflicting authorities (see guidelines in Citation of Secondary Authorities in Court, Supreme Court Registrar’s Circular, No.3 of 2004, s.2(b), online: Registrar’s Circulars pdf) pdf

1. Textbooks, Casebooks, etc. (a) Textbooks – provide commentaries and critical evaluation of the law. E.g. Constitutional Law in Malaysia and Singapore (b) Casebooks – contain summaries of key judgments on a particular subject, sometimes with editorial commentary. E.g. Contract Cases and Materials (by Beale, Bishop and Furmston) (c) Practice books – primarily for use by legal practitioners. Include guides to practice and procedure in the courts. E.g. Chitty on Contracts Lewin on Trusts Singapore Court Practice 2009

1.Textbooks, Casebooks, etc. (contd.) (d) Precedent books – specimens of forms and other legal documents with layout and wording accepted as standard by lawyers. E.g. Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (e) Loose-leaf services - books in loose-leaf format which are regularly updated to keep abreast of changes in the law. E.g. Woon’s Corporations Law 2.Legal Encyclopaedias These provide detailed statements of the law in alphabetical subject arrangement. Good starting points for research, and are sometimes preferred to textbooks for an overview of the topic. E.g. Corpus Juris Secundum Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore

3. Legal Periodicals Law journals and reviews provide information on the latest developments in the law as well as comments and criticisms of the law. E.g. Criminal Law Review Singapore Journal of Legal Studies 4.Research Literature Doctoral, Masters and other theses provide in-depth analysis of specific topics. Theses submitted to the NUS Faculty of Law are shelved in the C J Koh Law Library’s Theses Collection at call no. KE5009 *[year] [no.] E.g. KE5009 *

5. Reference Works (a) Legal Dictionaries, Glossaries, Words and Phrases – provide definitions of legal words or phrases. E.g. Black’s Law Dictionary Parliamentary Glossary: a Guide to Terms Used in the Singapore Parliament Words and Phrases Legally Defined (b) Legal Directories, Law Lists, etc. – listings of and information on lawyers. E.g. The Law Society of Singapore Directory Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory

5. Reference Works (contd.) (c) Bibliographies – listings of books that have been published on a subject. E.g. A Bibliographical Survey of Singaporean Legal Materials (d) Digests – contain summaries of cases. E.g. The Digest: Annotated British, Commonwealth and European Cases Mallal’s Digest of Malaysian and Singapore Case Law (e) Citators ● Case citators – list references to where cases were originally reported and to where they were subsequently cited. E.g. Current Law Case Citator ● Legislation citators – list references to cases which cited particular legislation. E.g. Mallal’s Digest: Legislation Citator 1932 to 2006

5. Reference Works (contd.) (f) Indexes - include indexes of: ● legal citations and abbreviations – provide meanings of legal abbreviations. E.g. Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations (by Donald Raistrick) Singapore Legal Abbreviations ● cases – alphabetical or subject listings of cases. E.g. Mallal’s Digest: Consolidated Tables of Cases 2009 Reissue ● legislation – alphabetical or subject listings of legislation. E.g. Chronological Table of the Statutes (published by HMSO) ● legal periodicals – listings of journal articles by author or subject. E.g. Index to Legal Periodicals and Books

Law Databases & More…….

How to find articles on “Rylands v Fletcher”? For e.g. Using LegalTrac Select Resources > Databases > By Subject >

Find the Citation Using an Indexing database

Enter relevant keywords in the search box and search. Find the Citation Using an Indexing database

16 Where do I find articles on “Rylands v Fletcher”? Full texts occasionally available in PDF format Search results: Find the Citation Using an Indexing database Click here to check availability of this article via other Library subscribed resources

17 E.g. Using HeinOnline to find articles on “inchoate title” Using a Full Text Database From the NUS Libraries Portal page ( select: Resources > Databases > By Subject > Law > HeinOnline. After logging in with your NUSNET ID and password: Find journal articles

On this page, you can browse publication titles. If not, then select your preferred search options: Find journal articles Using a Full Text Database

Select the field you want to search using the drop-down menu (e.g. “Text” or “Article Title”), and then enter the relevant search terms before clicking on the Search button below: E.g. Using HeinOnline to find articles on “inchoate title” Using a Full Text Database Find journal articles

20 Are newspaper articles relevant? Newspaper articles provide valuable sources of information: the latest legal news commentaries on the law information on current cases, many of which may never be published in the law reports PARLIAMENT; Anti-piracy law set to kick in soon Straits Times, 8 Jul 2014 Haze law passed; fines may go up if necessary Straits Times, 6 Aug 2014 New sentencing guidelines for cigarette smugglers Straits Times, 16 April 2014 Find Newspaper articles

Full texts of newspaper articles may be obtained from the following databases: Access to world leading and business sources including The Straits Times (1 May 1992-), Business Times (1 May 1992-), The Times (UK) (1 Jul 1985-) Access to local, national and international newspapers and business magazines, including The Straits Times (1 Jul 1989-), Business Times (29 Jan 1984-), The Times (UK) (5 Jan 1981-), The New York Times (1 Jun 1980-) Access these databases via the NUS Libraries Portal:

Find Newspaper Articles or select Databases and then click on Factiva Under Resources, click on E-Newspapers and select Factiva on the next screen

Find Newspaper Articles There are limited licences for this database. If you encounter an error message, try again later. Click on Continue

Find Newspaper Articles Select Search Select Search Builder E.g. Search for Straits Times articles on sentencing in the “Tang Wee Sung kidney transplant” case

Find Newspaper Articles Search for your source e.g. Straits Times

Find Newspaper Articles Enter Search terms Select date range Select relevant source

Find Newspaper Articles Click on relevant title for full text

Lexis Singapore Search case Rylands v Fletcher

Lexis Singapore Search case Rylands v Fletcher

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do not retrieve results from Lawnet, LexisNexis or Factiva. Find more about at Library FAQ is a new search engine that aims to allow discovery of the library’s online and print collections in a single search. This includes print books, print scholarly journals, newspaper articles, e-books, e-journals, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings and more.

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