Legal Research am Types of material – what each is good for What a case citation is telling you Where to find each type of material How to get the best out of the WWW 12-3pm (Economics & Business building) 1 Hour session (3 groups) Finding Australian & UK cases Full text Additional information about cases Key databases for researching case law

1. Types of material Material typeProvides Case lawAuthoritative record of the law LegislationAuthoritative record of the law Legal Dictionaries & Encyclopedias Definitions & simple explanations TextbooksMore in-depth treatment of a particular area of the law Journal articlesDiscussion of issues; summaries or overviews of a topic or case

2. Interpreting a case citation Merritt v Merritt [1970] 2 All ER 760 Grey v Pearson (1857) 6 HL Cas 61 R v Young (1999) 46 NSWLR 681 at 682 Ayles v The Queen [2008] HCA 6

Case citations: the parties Merritt v Merritt [1970] 2 All ER 760 Grey v Pearson (1857) 6 HL Cas 61 R v Young (1999) 46 NSWLR 681 at 682 Ayles v The Queen [2008] HCA 6

Case citations: year of the judgment Merritt v Merritt [1970] 2 All ER 760 Grey v Pearson (1857) 6 HL Cas 61 R v Young (1999) 46 NSWLR 681 at 682 Ayles v The Queen [2008] HCA 6

Case citations: report details Merritt v Merritt [1970] 2 All ER 760 Grey v Pearson (1857) 6 HL Cas 61 R v Young (1999) 46 NSWLR 681 at 682 Ayles v The Queen [2008] HCA 6

Case citations: square and round brackets Merritt v Merritt [1970] 2 All ER 760 R v Young (1999) 46 NSWLR 681 All ER [1969] 2 All ER [1970] 1 All ER [1970] 2 All ER [1971] 1 All ER [1971] 2 All ER [1972] 1 NSWLR 44 NSWLR 45 NSWLR 46 NSWLR 47 NSWLR 48 NSWLR 49

Case citations: medium neutral citations Merritt v Merritt [1970] 2 All ER 760 Grey v Pearson (1857) 6 HL Cas 61 R v Young (1999) 46 NSWLR 681 at 682 Ayles v The Queen [2008] HCA 6

4. Starting point for legal research Law Library home page:

3. Abbreviation Finders Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations Law report, Journal and Court abbreviations Free web site: Try also Laying Down the Law / Cooke et al. Good list in Appendix 4 CaseBase Online database in the ‘Help’ section

5. Where to find cases Information TypeAustralianUK Full textReported(via Law Reports A-Z) - LawBook Online - LexisNexisAU - CCH Justis Westlaw Raw dataAustLIIBaiLII Information about CaseBase Laws of Australia CaseBase (some) All via Law Library homepage Practice in hands-on session this afternoon

6. Where to find legislation Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) AustLII covers all Australian jurisdictions Go to: or: Law Library homepage > Free web law > AustLII

6. Secondary sources SourceProvides General Specific Legal DictionariesDefinitions Legal EncyclopediasBrief explanations TextbooksMore in-depth information Journal articlesSpecific aspects of a topic eg. case notes, discussions of legal issues or backgrounds to a topic Best place to look for secondary sources: Library catalogue: Try AGIS for journal articles on a topic

Making the most of the Web How big is the internet?

Anyone can publish ‘facts’ on the Internet…

Who controls the content on a website?

Checklist for avoiding ‘dodgy’ information on the Web Authority – Who runs the website? Are they a reliable source? Objectivity – What motivation might the author have for putting up this information? Purpose – Who/what is the intended audience/use for this information? Currency – How up to date is it? Accuracy – Can you verify the information in another source?

Getting the best from the Web Use Google Advanced Search

Using Google Advanced Search

Other useful websites Google Scholar – ‘scholarly’ material and publisher websites Free Web Law Free web law by subject – directories Legislation and Parliamentary Counsel websites Law Reform Commission websites