1. Introduction to Legal Research
SLSS 1001

2. We are surrounded by issues that are connected to the legal system.

3. COPYRIGHT
(6)  Subsection (2) is taken never to have applied if the owner of the book, newspaper or periodical publication disposes of it (in the form from which the main copy was made) to another person.
Animals Act 1977 No 25
Current version for 3 December 1999 to date (accessed 16 March 2009 at 18:15)
Part 3Section 8
8 Danger from presence or behaviour of animal on premises
Where damage results from a danger to a person entering premises, being a danger due to the state of the premises or due to things done or left undone on the premises, the liability (if any) of a person as an occupier of the premises in respect of the damage depends only on the law relating to the liability of occupiers, notwithstanding that the danger is, or is associated with, the presence or behaviour of an animal in or on the premises.
"credit reporting business" means a business or undertaking (other than a business or undertaking of a kind in respect of which regulations made for the purposes of subsection (5C) are in force) that involves the preparation or maintenance of records containing personal information relating to individuals (other than records in which the only personal information relating to individuals is publicly available information), for the purpose of, or for purposes that include as the dominant purpose the purpose of, providing to other persons (whether for profit or reward or otherwise) information on an individual's:……                    
Road Rules 2008
Current version for 1 September 2008 to date (accessed 16 March 2009 at 18:21)
Part 2Division 2Rule 18
18 Who is a pedestrian
A pedestrian includes:
(a) a person driving a motorised wheelchair that cannot travel at over 10 kilometres per hour (on level ground), and
(b) a person in a non-motorised wheelchair, and
(c) a person pushing a motorised or non-motorised wheelchair, and
(d) a person in or on a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy.
Note. Wheelchair, wheeled recreational device and wheeled toy are defined in the Dictionary.
Fair Trading Act 1987 No 68
Current version for 7 December 2007 to date (accessed 16 March 2009 at 18:19)
Part 2Division 3ASection 23B
23B Implied representation that goods or services will be able to be supplied at advertised price
(1) When a person, in trade or commerce, publishes or causes to be published a statement advertising goods or services for supply at a specified price, the statement is taken to include a representation that the person will be able to offer the goods or services for supply at the advertised price for a period that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable having regard to the nature of the market in which the person carries on business and the nature of the advertisement.
In Work, social and environmental situations to name a few. Knowing where to find the Law is extremely useful law impinges on just about everything we do.

4. Why Legal Research… Law is a continuously changing field
Effective research skills facilitate an understanding of the legal process
Legal studies requires understanding and use of
Primary source material
Secondary source material
Effective legal research skills allow you to:
find the law for a specific research area
update legal information for a specific law cases/legislation
find sources which provide analysis, commentary and background context for the law

5. Today… Primary v secondary sources Legal citation & abbreviations
Key tools to start legal research
Finding:
Legislation
Case law
Parliamentary documents
Other secondary sources
Go through aims

6. Legal Sources and Publications
Primary v secondary sources
Legal Sources and Publications
primary sources are the law itself
secondary sources of law are works about the law
Legal research requires an understanding of different types of legal material. This understanding will help you identify and locate information for your research.
The first distinction you need to be aware of is the difference between primary and secondary sources

7. Primary Sources
Authoritative sources of law made by law making bodies including
Legislation – made in federal & state parliament
Acts or statutes
Rules and regulations, by-laws and ordinances
also know as sub-ordinate legislation
may also be made by individuals or bodies to which Parliament has delegated authority
Cases - case law is developed in courts
recorded in judgements or judicial decisions
published in Law reports
also available as unreported judgements
customary law – Mabo v Queensland (1992) 175 CLR 1
Primary sources consist of authoritative statements of law made by law-making bodies and include:
Legislation: Acts or Statutes of Parliament,
Subordinate Legislation: Rules, Regulations, By-Laws. Also referred to as delegated legislation these laws are.
Law reports: published reports of decisions or judgments of courts or tribunals.
Cases made in courts referred to as judge made law
There may also be some recognition of customary law such native title

8. Primary sources… Other primary source material: Bills Hansard Treaties
draft of proposed new or altered law
public, private, cognate
Hansard
daily record of parliamentary debates,
speeches and questions
hearings of parliamentary committees
Treaties
agreements made between states
(countries)
Other primary sources that may be useful are:
bills (which are drafts of proposed acts)
Hansard (which is a record of what was said in parliament)
Treaties (which are agreements between countries)
Notes from the Australian and New South Wales Parliamentary websites
Types of Bills
Public Bills - The most common type of bills introduced into the Parliament of NSW are 'public bills', which deal with matters of general public interest. Public bills may be introduced by either a minister or parliamentary secretary on behalf of the government or by a private member representing his or her electorate.
Cognate Bills - Cognate bills are bills which are related to each other in terms of subject matter and are presented to the Parliament as a package for simultaneous consideration.
Money Bills - Money or 'Appropriation' bills are public bills which set a tax or propose the spending of money for a particular purpose. Money bills follow the same passage through both Houses as other bills, however, provision exists under the Constitution Act for the Governor to give his assent where the 'other House' does not agree to pass a money bill.
HANSARD
Chamber Hansard is usually checked, edited (as required) and a draft published to hard copy and the Internet within 24 hours of the chamber rising. The final, or official, record is published within 10 working days of a speech being made.
Committee Hansard is usually checked, edited (as required) and a draft sent back to the committee and witnesses for checking. The final, or official, record is published within two to three months after all committee members and witnesses have had an opportunity to request corrections.
Most bills are planned by public servants under the instruction of the minister responsible and with the help of a special group of lawyers who work in the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC). The actual writing is done by the OPC using a brief from the minister’s department.
Federal Parliament Bills Digest

9. Primary Sources Example:
Legislation
Principal Act
Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).
Amending Act
Income Tax Amendment Act 2007 (Cth).
Cases
Members of the Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Community v The State of Victoria (2002) 194 ALR 538
Bills
Australian Crime Commission Amendment Bill 2007(Cth)
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill 2006
Treaty
Security Treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America [ANZUS], opened for signature 1 September 1951, [1952] ATS 2 (entered into force 29 April 1952)(Cth)
Here are some example citations for these sources.
For legislation, there are principal and amending acts. Amending acts are used to make changes to principal acts so normally you would be consulting a principal act to know that the law was in a particular area
With cases you will normally see the names of the parties and then a citation that allows you to locate the report of the case
Then we have an example citation for a bill and a treaty

10. Secondary Sources Secondary sources allow you to:
Identify primary sources relevant to your topic
Interpret/understand or analyse relevant primary sources
Obtain background information and discussion on a legal topic
Secondary sources include:
books – comprehensive background, history, analysis and discussion of a legal area
journal articles – analysis, discussion of legal topic
annotator – notations and references to treatment of a case
citator – allow locate information for cases – eg, correct or alternate citations
digests & current awareness services - provides summaries and updates of cases
looseleaf and online commentary services – provide commentaries on primary sources
legal encyclopedias – comprehensive overview of legislation and cases for a legal topic
legal dictionaries – defines legal concepts and words and phrases

11. Secondary Sources Digests eg. Australian Legal monthly digest
Legal current awareness & digest services
Examples:
Current awareness eg. Australian Current Law
Summarises (digests) judgments from the High Court, the Federal Court and the State Supreme courts
Important decisions from the Family court
Digests eg. Australian Legal monthly digest
Summarise or index reported cases by subject
This Lecture will concentrate on Secondary sources and that the tutorial that you may already have attended will show you how to look up primary sources using Austlii and CaseBase. You will have the opportunity to use sources in tutorials.
Secondary sources
These sources assist you in:
locating relevant primary sources of law and includes current awareness and digest services such as Australian Current Law.
the analysis, discussion and interpretation of relevant primary sources. They may refer to journal articles, textbooks and encyclopedias.
Australian Current Law - Reporter Provides digests of judgments from the High Court, the Federal Court and the State Supreme courts, as well as important decisions from the Family Court, Federal Magistrate's Court, AAT and selected tribunals. Coverage extends back to 1976 for cases and to 1991 for legislation. via LexisNexis AU Open database   Yes Australian Current Law - Legislation ACL Legislation alerts you to the latest amendments to all Acts, Regulations, Rules and other statutory instruments across all Australian jurisdictions. Coverage extends back to 1976 for cases and to 1991 for legislation. via LexisNexis AU

12. Secondary sources cont…
Legal commentary
Law Reform Commissions- reforms and review legal issues of concern
Loose-leaf and online legal commentary services - provide such access to cases and legislation
Commentary services are often hybrid including both secondary and primary sources
Online sources available via the Law Library website
* Legal commentary can also be useful for understanding the law.
Law reform commission reports will review and discuss issues in an area of the law

13. Legal Commentary -Online and loose-leaf services
may focus on a specific area of law and are written by expert academics or practitioners within in that area, include
statement of current law in an area
explanations, interpretations and commentary
relevant case law and legislation to legal area covered
Example: Criminal Law of New South Wales ( Legal online)
Criminal Law New South Wales

14. Secondary Sources Examples
Textbooks
Weir T, (2006) An introduction to tort law, 2nd ed, Oxford’ Oxford University Press, Oxford; New York.
Journal article
Brown, K. (2000) Indigenous forums: laughed out of court? Aborigines have a right to justice on their own cultural terms.  Alternative Law Journal 25 (5) Oct p216
Dictionary & Encyclopedias
International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences
Laws of Australia
Case notes
Finnin S, (2006) Case note : Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Petitioner v Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense : has the Bush Administration's experiment with military commissions come to an end? Melbourne Journal of International Law 7 (2) Oct pp
Sources which analyse, discuss and interpret primary sources including:
Textbooks
Encyclopaedias & Dictionaries
Journal articles
Case notes
A number of other sources can be good for helping understand the context and significance of cases and legislation.
Secondary sources can help provide an overview of a research area or assist you to identify and even locate the relevant primary sources.
These include textbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, articles and case notes
Here are some examples citations for secondary sources

15. Legal Citation
Next lets look at legal citation

16. Legal Citation
Understanding Legal citation (referencing primary sources) is important
a statement of law requires reference/attribution to the source of its authority – legislation or case
conventions and legal rules determine how the law is cited
will help you quickly find and locate legal sources – cases, legislation, bills…
form can be important (round and square brackets)
allows someone reading your work to identify and locate sources you have used
recognise or distinguish different legal sources
You will be able identify that
Native Title Act 1993(Cth) is Commonwealth legislation
R v Folbigg (2005) 152 A Crim R 35 is a criminal case
Al Masri v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (2002) 192 ALR is a case published in a law report series
Swain v Waverley Municipal Council [2005] HCA 4 is available online via a public legal information website such as AustLII or Lawlink
Stuhmcke A. (2012) Legal Referencing 4th ed. Sydney: Butterworths.
Library Location Law Short Loan C
There are many reasons why it’s important to understand legal citation
(go through the reasons)
Once you understand you will know that:
(go through examples)
A good guide to legal citation is Stuhmcke’s legal referencing available from the law library

17. Case Citation format A case citation will include the following parts:
Examples:
Mabo v Queensland (1992) 175 CLR 1 (law report citation)
Wotton v Queensland [2012] HCA 2 (non law report citation – medium neutral citation)
Case citation may vary if (examples)”
the case is only available online
parties, year of decision, court/tribunal, judgement number
the case is not published in a law report
no volume or report series name
is a criminal case
R v Milat (NSW Sup Ct, No 70114/1994, Hunt CJ at CL, 22 April 1996, unreported)
Pinpoint citation (reference to a specific page or section):
Mabo v Queensland (1992) 175 CLR 1 at 3
Names of the parties (in italics)
Year in round or square brackets
Volume number
Abbreviation for law report series (or court if not published)
Page number on which case commences
The general format for a citation is the provide the names of parties, the year, volume number and abbreviated law report, followed by the starting page of the case in the report series.
This can vary for a number of reasons including if the case is available online and not reported in a law report series.
If it is a criminal case you will see that one of the parties is listed as ‘R’. This means that the crown is one of the parties and ‘R’ stands for ‘Regina’
You may also see pinpoint citations where a specific page within a report is referred to

18. Round and Square brackets rule
Many cases are published in Law report series
not all series cite cases in the same way
volume number OR date is essential for locating the case
Case Citation with year in round brackets
Law report series, number volumes sequentially.
The volume number is essential for locating the case.
(The date appears in round brackets and refers to the year in which the decision was handed down. It is not required in order to locate the case in the Law Report series.)
Case Citation with year in square bracket
the date is essential for locating a case in a Law report series.
(Volumes do not have a unique volume number and the correct volume can only be identified by the year of publication.)
Al Masri v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (2002) 192 ALR 609
Barrett v Enfield London Borough [1999] All ER 193

19. Finding law reports
Many online databases allow you to search by case citation, it is often easier to find a case using the correct citation
The Law Library has a list of Australian & New Zealand law report series which makes it easier to find reports because it also lists the abbreviations

20. Search using citation (Key cite Westlaw)
Search for the following citations :
(2005) 223 ALR 679 round brackets citation date not required in search. Correct citation locates case
or [2005] FCAFC 128 square brackets date essential
Incorrect citation date excluded in search – case not found
For example, Westlaw allow you to search for cases by citation using it’s Key cite tool
As shown in this example, if the year is excluded from a citation with square brackets the case will not be found

21. Citing Legislation
Citation for a Statute (Act) should include the following information:
Short title (italics)
Year (italics)
Jurisdiction in brackets (no italics)
If you are referring to a specific section of the act it should be noted at the end of the citation
Example from Austlii
Native title Act 1993 (Cth) s 47
Legislation must also be formatted following special rules
The short title, year and jurisdiction is includes and if referring to a specific section, this as well
We can see here how the Native title act appears in Austlii and how this would be cited

22. Legal abbreviations
The University Law Library provides a comprehensive listing of legal abbreviations
(1983) 158 CLR 1
[2005] HCA 4
(1983) 46 ALR 625
[1995] HCA 20
57 ALJR 450
[1999] All ER 193
The Law is full of abbreviations.
Often you will need to know what the abbreviation stands for to locate the full text it refers to.
The Law library has a great page for looking up citations when you need help

23. Websites, Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and Digests
Starting points
Websites, Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and Digests
Next lets look at some starting points for legal research in the form of websites, encyclopedias, dictionaries and digests

24. Legal research is more than volumes on a shelf
Legal research is more than volumes on a shelf. Many of the resources you need will be available online.
There is a great many online tools that will help you with legal research
FlickrStorm All rights reserved by radiospike photography

25. Websites & databases Law subject guide Legal resource Directories
Weblaw Subject Directory to Australian Legal Resources
Socio-legal Studies Database Guide
Cases, legislation, encyclopedias, databases, Parliamentary documents
Law subject guide
Legislation, cases, abbreviations, encyclopedias, dictionaries, databases..
Comprehensive legal research services
Westlaw, LexisNexis, AustLii, Firstpoint
Bring together collections of primary and secondary sources
A couple of great directories is Web law
You can also have a look at the sociolegal studies database guide
If you want more material try the Law library’s law subject guide
There are a number of comprehensive online tools that bring together both primary and secondary sources. These include Austlii, Firstpoint and Westlaw

26. Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
Specialised legal dictionaries and encyclopedias
define or provide an overview of subject or assist in finding related search terms
define legal words and phrases
identify legislation or cases relating to a specific topic
summarize or discusses the socio-legal context of a legal issue
Legal encyclopedias - locate legal principles by topic
The Laws Of Australia (TLA)
Access via Firstpoint listed in Socio-legal databases
Halsbury’s Laws of Australia
Access via LexisNexis.au listed in Socio-legal databases
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Overview of theoretical and sociological context of a legal research area
Acces via Library catalogue search by title enter IESB
Legal dictionaries and encyclopedias are very useful if you are not familiar with legal terms or areas of the law
A couple of useful sources are ‘The laws of Australia’ , ‘Halsbury’s’ and the ‘International Encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences

27. Online Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
Laws of Australia(Lawbook) & Halsbury’s Laws of Australia (Butterworths) both publications
summarises legal principles relating to all areas of Australian Law
references both legislation and cases on a topic
have some fulltext published by either Lawbook or Butterworths
browse or search by keyword, case name
International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral sciences (IESB)
academic articles on the theoretical and sociological context of law
FirstPoint
Information about Australian cases (reported 1825; unreported since 1991), summaries, litigation history, journal articles about cases
Both versions of the laws of Australia assist with summarising legal principles and providing references to cases and legislation
The IESB provides a more sociological context of law
Firstpoint is another tool like Laws of Australia that will help you understand legal principles with references to cases, legislation and journals articles

28. Legal Encyclopedias - Firstpoint
Allows you to:
search an area of law by subject
identify relevant cases and related legislation
access the litigation and subsequent history for Australian cases
locate journal articles on your topic
access summaries of cases from the a legal digest
obtain case histories
Includes:
Laws of Australia (legal encyclopedia)
Australian case citator
Australian Digest
Australian Legal monthly digest
Acces via the Socio-legal Studies Database Guide
Firstpoint brings together useful legal research resources including digest and legal encyclopaedias.
It has a great many uses so is well worth a look.
Access via the Library Socio-legal Studies Database Guide

29. Laws of Australia (Online)
Provides access to legal statement which summarise areas of law with Australian jurisdictions
Useful for
identifying the law for a specific topic
locating legislation and cases that relate to a specific area of the law
search by topic or browse within area of the law that you are researching
Acces via the Socio-legal Studies Database Guide
Lets look in more detail at Laws of Australia
This tool is also useful for indentifying the law on a specific topic and finding related cases and legislation
It is also available via the sociolegal studies subject guide

30. Browse subject categories or search by keyword
To access the encyclopedia, use the menu on the left to locate Laws of Australia
You will then be able to drill down through the subject groupings to an area of interest
Alternatively you can search to help locate your topic within the subject categories

31. The Laws of Australia – browse subject categories
Here we can see an entry on offences relating to children, specifically about abortion
This shows a brief summary, related references in the encyclopedia and to related legislation and other sources
The Laws of Australia – browse subject categories

32. Search by Keyword
In this example I have searched the full text for the phrase ‘circle sentencing’ and located an entry in the encyclopedia
This will then allow me to see what area of law this topic might relate to

33. Laws of Australia (TLA)
Browse within categories
Keyword search
Select and view topic
You can also search only the topics within the encyclopedia to find the most appropriate section

34. Halsbury’s Laws of Australia
Halsbury’s Laws of Australia has a similar system of categories which you can browse by topics

35. Index and summarise reported cases by subject or topic.
Legal Digests
Index and summarise reported cases by subject or topic.
May categorize cases in defined topic areas
Include “keys” to help you locate the correct subject category for your topic
Include cases indexes which allow you to find a summary of a case
Digests for Australian Law include:
FirstPoint on Legal Online
Australian Legal Monthly Digest
Australian Current Law : Reporter
Useful when cases and judgements are very long
Another useful tool is a legal digest
They can also help you locate cases by topic and find summaries of those cases
This can really help when a judgment is very long and hard to read
Some examples include Firstpoint

36. As an example, this Work Choices judgement is 365 pages long!
It is much easier to read through the Firstpoint details to get a summary of the case

37. Firstpoint allows you to search on a topic.
You can specify search terms within the Case Digest field for a more targetted searched

38. This will find cases where your search terms appear, highlighted in yellow in the Digest section

39. Search the Library catalogue for legal dictionaries
If you need to get a definition of a legal term you can easily find them by searching the library catalogue
Dictionaries may be online or in print
Use you unikey to access online dictionaries off campus

40. Finding Legislation
Now lets look at finding legislation

41. Legislation
Commonwealth and State Parliaments are empowered to pass laws.
Laws can also be made by bodies or persons delegated by parliament.
Some Acts only define broad principles; the administrative detail is defined at a later stage.
referred to as subordinate or delegated legislation
usually defined in Rules, By-laws, Regulations and Ordinances.
For an overview of How Law is made consult
Parliament of Australia. House of Representatives, Infosheet no. 7 Making Laws April 2002.
Parliament of New South Wales. How Law is made ut
Legislation is made by either Federal or State parliaments
Some legislation that deals with administrative details, called subordinate legislation is made by other bodies such as councils
Some examples of subordinate legislation includes By-Laws and Regulations
Below are a couple of good overviews that you can look up on how legislation is made

42. Indication of short title
Jurisdiction
Heading of statute
Year and Number
Long title
Date of assent
Jurisdiction
Indication of short title
Here is an example of a piece of legislation
Most legislation is made up of similar elements
It is useful to be familiar with these elements so you know how to cite an Act and also to look for the information you need
Section and subsection
Commencement information

43. Legislative History
History of a piece of legislation included in the notes table at the end of an act and includes
assent and commencement date
reprint history
Table of Acts
includes amendment history to specific provisions in the Act (or Table of Acts) is also found in the Notes Section of the consolidated version of an act.
Point-in-time legislation
Allows you to establish the content of an act at a specific point in time
ComLaw and NSW PCO
The notes section is where you’ll find details of any changes that have been made over the years
This is useful when you want to know what the law was at a certain point in time
Comlaw and the NSW PCO also have special tools to allow you to find point in time legislation

44. Finding Legislation Austlii
Public legal information freely available via the internet
Compiled by UTS and UNSW
Cases and legislation all Australian jurisdictions and many courts and tribunals
ComLaw
Official source for current commonwealth legislation
Includes Federal Register of Legislative Instruments
authoritative source for legislative instruments
Most current source for in-force legslation
NSW Parliamentary Counsel’s Office
maintains the NSW legislation website
official NSW Government site for the online publication of legislation
information guides and a weekly bulletin service for NSW legislation
Parliamentary Websites
Useful for locating bills, debates and other parliamentary information
Federal
State
Here are a few suggestions for locating legislation in Australia
Austlii contains both Federal and State legislation
Comlaw and the NSW Parliamentary counsel’s office (PCO) contain only the legislation of their respective jurisdictions
For other material try the parliamentary website of the jursidiction you are interested in
While Austlii contains all jurisdictions, there sometimes special features of individual parliamentary websites that make them a better choice
Primary Sources
These sources consist of authoritative statements of law made by law-making bodies and include:
Legislation: Acts or Statutes of Parliament, Subordinate Legislation: Rules, Regulations, By-Laws. Also referred to as delegated legislation these laws are made by individuals or bodies to which Parliament has delegated authority. Law reports: published reports of decisions or judgments of courts or tribunals.
Many sources for locating primary sources increasingly information is available online.
Locate online sources via the Library Website The Law Library has an excellent guide to Legal databases
Secondary sources
These sources assist you in:
locating relevant primary sources of law and includes current awareness and digest services such as Australian Current Law.
the analysis, discussion and interpretation of relevant primary sources. These sources may include journal articles, textbooks and encyclopedias.
A legislative instrument is a written instrument of a legislative character made in the exercise of a power delegated by the Parliament. An instrument is taken to be legislative if it determines or alters the law, rather than applying it in a particular case, and has the direct or indirect effect of affecting a privilege or interest, imposing an obligation, creating a right, or varying or removing an obligation or right.

45. When using the search features of these websites it’s a good idea to be as specific as possible.
In this examples I have Searched for legislation and regulation on Mental Health using exact phrase words in the title.
This is different from A text search will search for the words in the full text of all documents

46. Finding Legislation on Austlii
Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)
Lets now look at how we would find a piece of legislation using Austlii
Austlii is a free website but can also be found on the Sociolegal studies databases list

47. On the Austlii website we can either search or browse for cases and legislation
If you know the jursidiction you can browse the appropriate section
In this case I will go into the Commonwealth section

48. I need to go into the consolidated acts because I want the most current version of the Act
This is opposed to Numbered acts which are the original version of the Act as first made without amendments.
This would not tell me what the law is now if there have been amendments since it was first made

49. In the commonwealth legislation section I can choose a ‘Name search’ and type in the details I have

50. Search within the Act for key term
View legislative history, table, date of assent
Locate cases or articles which refer to this act
Once I open the act there are a number of useful features:
Table
Sections
Search this act
Notes
Noteup
View full section or subsection

51. Comlaw can also be searched and browsed for commonwealth legislation, subordinate legislation and bills
To find the most current version of the Act go to the current compilations which will include amendments

52. Cases,Case citators and Digests
Finding Case Law
Cases,Case citators and Digests
Lets look at finding cases now

53. Finding Case Law Case law is developed in courts. Law report series
unenacted law as it is not made in parliament
recorded in judgements or judicial decisions.
usually published in Law Reports
many unpublished cases (unreported judgements) now avilable online
Law report series
reported judgements are published in law report series
usually record the decisions of higher courts
important to report decisions, as judgements can be used as precedent for other cases.
cases are selected for reporting – new law, extends application of existing principles,
clarifies conflicting decisions or point of practice or procedure ...
Authorised reports approved by judges (Commonwealth) or in New South
Wales by the Council of Law Reporting for New South Wales before publication
Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR), New South Wales Law Reports (NSWLR)
Unreported judgements
decision is not regarded as being sufficiently important to report
referred to as unreported judgements
Read headings
Case law – developed by courts
Law report series – only report higher courts and important decisions
Authorised report series – approved by judges
Cth: CLR
NSW: NSWLR
Unreported: not regarded as report worthy
Authorised Law Reports
Cases published in Law reports that have been approved by judges before publication are considered to be the authoritative record in court. Cases available via databases such as AustLii are not considered to be authorised versions in a court. Cases available via AustLii are acceptable for research purposes. Some authorised Law reports series are available online via databases such as LawBook Company Online and LexisNexis.au
Unauthorised Series
Unauthorised law report series do not undergo the same review process as an authorised series. These reports are often produced quickly and may be directed toward specialist legal areas. Unauthorised series may also include reports of cases that are not published in authorised reports. The Family Law Reports are examples of series which only report cases relevant to the subject area indicated in the title.

54. Law reports examples Some examples of legal abbreviations include
Some examples of legal abbreviations include
CLR - Commonwealth Law Reports
ALR – Australian Law Reports
NSWLR – New South Wales Law Reports
Legal abbreviations are available from the University of Sydney Law School Library Website
Here are a few examples of key law report abbreviations.
Of course, you can always look them up on the Sydney law school website

55. Headnote summary of the case does not form part of the case
Case name/parties
Court
Judges
catchwords
Here is an example of a law report
You can see the value added features that you would not get from the raw judgment
Catchwords – outlines key issues in the case
Headnote summary – outlines what the case is about
Headnote summary of the case does not form part of the case

56. Finding Cases
Encyclopedias, digests, citators, legal databases and indexes be used to locate
case law on a specific subject
subsequent history of a case
case notes and references
meanings of words and phrases in a case
Austlii
Case law from courts in both Federal and State jurisdictions
Full-text available for cases
LexisNexis.au CaseBase
Case citator
Provides citations (references to cases) and the full-text for only the Australian Law Reports (ALR)
Firstpoint (Thomson’s Lawbook)
Includes a case citator and digest
Full-text for several authorised Law report series
Commonwealth Law reports (CLR), Federal Court Reports (FCA)
You can find either cases or details about them in a range of sources
Austlii contains full text of cases although they may not be the authorised versions
LexisNexisAU Casebase is a case citator that gives you more information about cases
Firstpoint has a similar function
Both CaseBase and Firstpoint will link through to some full text but not all

57. Case Notes provide commentary about a case
analysing and evaluating a case
Information may include subsequent treatments in later judgments. They are found in secondary sources.
Journal articles and text books also include case notes, for example, the Sydney Law Review contains case notes in most issues
Case notes can be handy for understanding more about a case
These can be found in journal articles and textbooks

58. Find this case and cases which relate to this judgement. Google??
If you don’t have the citation details you can sometimes work them out by using the information you have at hand
In this example we have the party names, a rough idea of the time frame and the topic
This information can be used to locate the case and related cases in case citators or other tools that contain full text of cases

59. Case Citators Provide listings of cases with reference
to where they have been reported
listing of any cases that have considered the main case
symbols which tell you how a case has been treated by subsequent judgements
Case citators:
verify citations for cases
record if cases have been reported in more than one Law report series
effective tool for location partial citations
trace cases where the main case has been considered
Some citators include references
to secondary material such as journal articles which discuss a specific case.
case notes
The Library subscribes to
LexisNexis.au CaseBase and
Firstpoint: Australian Case Citator Plus
Case citators are great for looking up details of cases even if you have incomplete information
You can also use them to find related cases
Particularly useful are the annotations and signals which tell you how cases related to each other
This is because decisions are influenced by how similar situations have been decided in earlier cases
This is called the doctrine of precedent
Arguments presented in court have to be supported when possible by reference to earlier cases.
Important to see how decision in earlier case has been subsequently been used in courts.
Need to check the status or authority of your case as should not be based on a case that has been overruled or reversed.
Sydney University Library provides you with access to CaseBase and Firstpoint

60. So for example, I can search for details I have to try and locate a case

61. When I find a case that matches my details I can then find out details of:
Cases and legislation considered
Cases referring to my case
Secondary sources referring to my case

62. Case Annotations
annotations are used by a court to indicate how primary case has been judicially considered
court annotations are included in casebase they show:
how other cases have subsequently referred to a case
how the court treated or followed that decision. In subsequent judgements
The annotations that appear next to the list of cases referred to explain the relationship between my case and other cases
For example, if a case is overuled by a subsequent case, it means the court found that the legal principles used in my case were incorrect. This means the subsequent case may not apply the same principles in their case

63. Case Citators- Signals
CaseBase provides signals so that court annotations can be quickly interpreted
CaseBase signals allow easy recognition of the annotations

64. Finding Parliamentary documents
Bills, debates,reports and proceedings of committees
Next we’ll look at other materials that might be useful for your research

65. Parliamentary Documents
Bills
are drafts of proposed legislation
second reading
member of parliament introduces bill and explains purpose
bill debated in parliament
Hansard
official record of the proceedings of the Parliament
Explanatory memoranda
explain background and content of bill
First lets define those materials
Bills are drafts of proposed legislation
When a bill is presented a speech is given.
The speech outlines the purpose of the act so gives a good insight into the intention behind it.
Hansard and explanatory memoranda are also useful for this purpose and can all help give context to the provisions in a piece of legislation

66. Sources for Parliamentary Documents
Australian Parliamentary Website
Billsnet
Bills Digest
ParlinfoWeb
Search the full-text of parliamentary debates
Proceedings of committees
Capital Monitor
Monitors parliamentary proceedings and business
Commonwealth, New South Wales
Access via Library Socio-legal databases page
New South Wales Parliamentary Website
To find parliamentary documents you can generally go to parliamentary websites of the various jurisdictions
All of these websites are free except for Capital Monitor which can be accessed from the library’s databases list

67. Secondary Sources
Library catalogue and reserve, legal commentary, journal articles and case notes
Finally lets look at finding secondary sources

68. Locating secondary resources
2 Hour collection
readings required for a unit of study
access via the Library catalogue
search for readings by course code or lecturers name eg.
SLSS 1001
print material Level 3 Fisher Library
access electronic material off-campus using unikey
Library catalogue
search for topics by subject
locate references by title or author
Some material is made available in a short term loan collection called 2 hour. In Fisher library this is currently located on level 3
Some readings may be available online so you can access them from home after putting in your unikey and password
You can also find some material by searching the library catalogue on a topic or, if you have a specific title or author in mind, by searching on those fields

69. Legal research - Secondary sources
Legal Commentary
Law Reform Commissions
Databases for Locating Journal Articles
Some useful secondary sources include legal commentary, law reform commission reports and journal article

70. Law Reform Commissions
examine the law and propose reforms and review issues of concern.
produce many documents relevant to socio-legal research, including issues papers, working papers, discussion papers and reports.
New South Wales Law Reform Commission
Australian Law Reform Commission
Law reform commission reports are great for understanding the issues that may arise in certain areas of the law that need to be addressed in some way
They are mostly freely available online for recent material from the Commission websites

71. You can browse through the websites to find relevant material

72. Legal Commentary Online commentary services
Legal commentary on many legal fields
corporations, taxation, torts, family law
Updated regularly to ensure access to current information
background to information for a specific legal area, historical as well as current information.
may include the text of relevant legislation, and reports on cases
CCH Australia e.g.. Family Law
Law Book Company e.g. Criminology
Commentaries available in loose-leaf form in Law Library
Looseleaf services are so called because they were traditionally published in looseleaf binders that were updated as the commentary and law changed
They are a great source of insight into the law and sometimes include text of relevant cases and legislation
There are now many online commentaries on topics including Family and criminology

73. Here is an example of a commentary on Family law
You can see that it’s organised much like an ebook with sections
You can also search a commentary for specific words

74. Finding Articles in Journals
The term journal refers to any ongoing publication
may also be referred to as a
serial, magazine, periodical
Library does not index or catalogue the content of these publications
Another great source are journal articles (also called serials or periodicals)
The best way to find articles is to search a database that specialises on your topic

75. Journal articles…..
Brown, K. (2000) Indigenous forums: laughed out of court? Aborigines have a right to justice on their own cultural terms.  Alternative Law Journal v25 i5 Oct p216
Feather, N T.(1996) Domestic violence, gender, and perceptions of justice. Sex Roles : A journal of research 35 (7-8) Oct p507
Finnin S, (2006) Case note : Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Petitioner v Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense : has the Bush Administration's experiment with military commissions come to an end? Melbourne Journal of International Law 7 (2) Oct pp
Explain search catalogue by title of journal , library catalogue does index content of journals use Electronic databases

76. Databases and Electronic Resources
index and in many cases abstract (summarise) the content of journals within specific or broad subject areas.
may also index theses, book reviews, conference proceedings & collections of essays.
some provide the full text for an article
may link to full text via ‘Check Library’
references not necessarily held in the Library
Bring together articles and other materials on a topic
Some have full text in the database and others link out to full text
Not all articles have the full text available though

77. Electronic Resources - databases
Access
alphabetical list
Subject list
Law
Socio-legal Studies
Sociology
To find databases click on the electronic databases and electronic resources then choose databases by name or using the subject categories
Here are a few suggestions

78. List of all your recent searches
If the article is not available within the database this link will check the Library catalogue.
results
search terms
List of all your recent searches
In the database use your search terms to locate articles
You might need to adjust your search terms if you are not finding anything on your first search
When your results are retrieved click on the link to the full text (PDF) or the check library links to see if full text is available outside of the database

79. The complete record provides additional information about an article.
information on any cases or Legislation discussed.
list the subjects covered by the article.
click on the subject heading to find additional articles on your topic
Looking at the complete record can help you find tune your searches
You can see where your search terms appear and then redo your search to find more relevant articles
Clicking on the subject headings can also allow you to find more articles on the same subject

80. TVNews
If you are looking for news stories try using TV News which contains videos from most major australian news sources
This is available from the databases page also

81. Access via usyd eLearning Use your unikey login
ARTS1000
Access via usyd eLearning
Use your unikey login
Modules provide you with key
skills for Library research
If you are needing more help with your research try the ARTS1000 tutorial which is available via eLearning
This will take you through the basics of doing research

82. Fisher Library – Floor plan
If you have more questions after today your library contact is Karen Chilcott
Her details appear on the screen
Thank you