How to get started with legal research Emily Allbon – Law Librarian
Aims & Objectives Aims and objectives
To familiarise you with common legal materials To enable you to find legislation, cases and commentary To stop law seeming so scary!
Lesson outline
Legislation Cases Commentary Finding cases online – Westlaw intro Lawbore Keeping up to date
Acts Primary legislation = statutes (acts)
Acts come in two types: Public General Acts Local Personal Acts
Secondary/delegated legislation = Statutory Instruments (SI’s)
Are there other types of secondary legislation?
Byelaws Codes of Practice SI’s
How are Acts cited? “An Act to revise the law of England and Wales as to theft and similar or associated offences, and in connection therewith to make provision as to criminal proceedings by one party to a marriage against the other, and to make certain amendments extending beyond England and Wales in the Post Office Act 1953 and other enactments; and for other purposes connected therewith” (Theft Act 1968)
Not in full
Usually by short title: Theft Act 1968
Could be cited as 1968 c.60
c = chapter no: sequence of acts in year.
Citing older Acts Before 1963 statutes referred to by regnal year Motor Car Act of 1903 cited as: 3 Edw.7 c.36 (the 36th act passed in the 3rd year of Edward VII’s reign)
Where can I find legislation on the shelves? Statutes at Large
1215-1866
Law Report Statutes
1896 - (up to 1988 in Lib)
Public General Acts
Original nly o s e t u t a t s es! No updat
1831 – (1866 – 2004 in Lib)
Current Law Statutes Current Law Statutes Covers 1948 Original Acts Very detailed annotations (bills, Hansard..) Recent Acts in binders Citator: notes
tes u t a t s l a Origin ly on fo n i d n u o Backgr d ! - goo
Halsbury’s Statutes Halsbury’s Statutes
! d e d n e Am tes! a d p u t Grea
Only hardcopy set with amended legislation.
Subject order (not chronological)
Purpose: “to provide correct and amended text of all legislation in force”
Extensive notes on SI’s, case law etc.
Halsbury’s Statutes
50 Main Volumes Current Statutes Service (loose-leaf) Cumulative Supplement (issued annually) Noter -Up (loose-leaf, most recent changes) Table of Statutes and Consolidated Index
Other parts of Halsbury’s
Is it in Force? (contains commencement dates for last 25 years) Destination Tables (guide to consolidation of legislation since 1957) Statutes Citator (guide to current status of statutes - lists amendments)
Using Halsbury’s
STEP 1: Index STEP 2: Main volume STEP 3: Cumulative supplement STEP 4: Noter-up Example: Equality Act 2006
Finding legislation online?
Lexis/Westlaw For free sources, see Lawbore Directory – Core – UK Legal Info Biggest free source (launched July 2010) www.legislation.gov.uk containing all legislation (statutes & SI’s) from 1988. Statutes in amended form but not always revised.
Statute Books
Blackstone's Statutes On…
Contain just the statutes needed for each subject area
They sell out early!
About case law…
Common law = case law Law reports = primary sources of English law Precedent is binding on future similar cases in that court or below Precedent can only be overruled by higher court
Law reporting
Cases written up in law reports No official series of law reports as with statutes Many different series of law reports Only 1.25 % of cases heard are reported
English Reports Encompass the Nominate Reports. Written and published by individual court reporters. Cases 1571 to 1865. Available in the library and online via HeinOnline/Westlaw.
The Law Reports
Began in 1865 Most authoritative series of law reports –judgment checked by judge. Single series containing mini-series:
AC (Appeal Cases) QB (Queens Bench) KB (Kings Bench) Fam. (Family Division) Ch. (Chancery Division)
WLR & All ER
WLR
All ER
Published by ICLR
Published by Butterworths
1953 onwards
1936 onwards (All ER Reprint 1558-1935)
Rapid coverage of cases – Vols 2 & 3 reprinted in Law Reports with annotations
Rapid coverage of cases
Published weekly
Published weekly
Which report is best to use? 1. 2. 3. 4.
The Law Reports always Either WLR or ALL ER Other law reports in specialist area e.g. Cr. App Reps, CMLR Newspaper, journal reports last.
Citation of Law Reports Pepper v Hart [1992] 3 W.L.R. 1032 Parties involved in case
Year case reported
Vol. No.
Page No.
Report abbreviation e.g. Weekly Law Reports
Abbreviations: Raistrick Index to Legal Citations & Abbreviations or Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
RAISTRICK = THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK IN THE LAW LIBRARY!
Neutral citation Smith v Jones [2001] EWCA Civ. 10 Parties involved in case
Year case heard
Abbreviation of the court eg. England and Wales Court of Appeal Civil Division
Case no.
Abbreviations: Raistrick Index to Legal Citations & Abbreviations or Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
Finding cases 1. Decipher the abbreviation of the law report 2. Find out where the law report is available: – In the library – OR electronically
3. Use the case citation to find the full text.
Finding cases in the English Reports • Trickier! • Use index to translate old citation into new • Daniel v North – 11 East 372 (original report citation) – 103 1047 (new English Report citation)
• Don’t know name? Use Raistrick to look up nominate citation.
Current Law Case Citator
Useful tool for finding citations to cases and judicial history. ď ˝ To search by name use Current Law Case Citator. ď ˝ Searching by subject is best done electronically e.g. Lexis or Westlaw
Current Law Case Citator
Current Law Case Citators
For case citations & history of case 1977 – 97 1998 – 2001 2002 – 2004 2005 onwards in paperbacks Monthly Digest
Current Law Year Books
For case summaries
Commentary on the law Can
be found in:
Books Journals Encyclopaedia
Books • Textbooks Highlight important legislation and cases ● Use online catalogue ●
• Practitioner works Written for practitioners ● Available electronically ●
Journals
Useful, up
to date articles Leading academic journals: MLR, CLJ, LQR Citations and abbreviations: Fam. L.J. 2005, 48(Jul/Aug), 2-4
Why use journals?
Reflects academic commentary & debate Up-to-date – may not be in books yet Research usually goes in journals first Helps you get to grips with the issues Good way of finding your ‘voice’
Halsbury’s Laws of England
Encyclopaedia of law arranged by subject area refs to statutes and case law brown 50 volume set
use Noter-up volumes
Other bits in the library
Law
Commission
Proposes reform of the law Reports in library (and Law Commission’s site)
Command
papers
Parliamentary discussion papers: Cmd. 6283
Available in the library (or on government websites.)
Summary so far…
Law libraries aren’t scary!
Legislation
Cases
Importance of amended legislation Halsbury’s Statutes Law reports and citations Current Law Case Citator
Commentary
Journals, books, Halsbury’s Laws of England
Legal portal created just for YOU! Created to help you find web resources to help you research Award-winning! 4 key areas:
Directory Learnmore City Hub Blog – Future Lawyer
Directory: key features
Links to websites to help you study law You can find journal articles, speeches, cases too Research bit useful to help you get to grips with things: dictionaries, directories, current awareness
Learnmore: key features
‘How to’ guides Video tutorials Talking slide shows
t the u o k Chec sources! ! P I T re HOT ooting tm grea
Hub: key features
Events calendar Useful links News E-Library (online journals, reports) Database access Help
Blog
Careers news Video interviews with alumni Read about events Find out about routes within legal sector
CASES ONLINE?
Databases at City
Relevant now?
Westlaw Lexis HeinOnline Oxford Scholarship Online
Searching by case name ď ˝
Look for Pepper v Hart [1993] AC 593
No need for the ‘v’
Find cases where a word has been defined (e.g. guardian)
‘Traffic light’ coding system: • Red no entry = • Yellow exclamation mark = mixed or mildly negative judicial treatment • Green C = Positive or neutral judicial treatment received
Case analysis – journal articles
Search by citation
Legal research workshops
Learn to be an expert user of databases Make gathering research for essays or moots less onerous Understand how to know if you can trust a source AVOID THIS >>
Things you need to bring to Library sessions
Your laptop/iPad/tablet
Your computing login/password
And YOURSELF – ON TIME!
Good academic practice
Plagiarism
Make sure you give credit/reference anyone else’s work you use (whether direct quote or paraphrase)
Collusion
Only work with others if you are explicitly told to. Obviously you can discuss your work with friends, but any submission must be entirely your own work.
Online resources workbook
Assessment on legal research skills All about how you find the information you need Need to pass by 50% to make it through the module Essential learning for every subject you study
Everything clear?‌Questions?
Keeping up-to-date
Emily Allbon
Why do you need to? Law changes ALL THE TIME! Using out-of-date law in a piece of coursework/exam will throw the whole piece. In mooting, you will lose. In interviews you will be asked your opinion on a wide range of topical issues. In a real case…
OK I get it…how do I keep up to date then? Specialist law publications Blogs Twitter Journals Databases
Law news T h e T i m e s - ££ - http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/law/ G u a r d i a n L a w – http://www.guardian.co.uk/ law L e g a l W e e k - http://www.legalweek .com/students Lawyer2b – http://l2b.thelawyer.com/ Student Law Review – £16.50 p.a. Y o u n g L a w y e r – free Legal Cheek http://www.legalcheek .com (if I knew then…/podcasts)
Blogs Great free commentar y/debate on breaking cases, law reform Good for promotion/reflection tool e.g. Ashley Connick, David Allen Green, Nearly Legal. Engage wide range of people via comments
My recommendations UK Human Rights Law Blog Charon QC Halsbury’s Law Exchange UKSC Blog Law Think Inner Temple Current Awareness (not strictly a blog..)
Twitter: great for: Breaking legal news Fast commentary Hearing diverse range of views Hearing about opportunities Trying out your ideas Promoting yourself Communicating with a wide range of people
Who tweets? Solicitors Barristers Law students/trainees/ pupils Charities Campaigners Journalists/Writers Legal academics Law organisations
Journals Loads of them out there: S o m e g e n e r a l & v e r y a c a d e m i c e.g. Law Quarterly Review, Modern Law Review, Cambridge Law Journal S o m e s p e c i f i c e.g. Criminal Law Review, European Intellectual Property Review, Company Lawyer S o m e m o r e l i k e n e w s p a p e r s : The Lawyer, New Law Journal, Law Society Gazette Fr e q u e n c y : Can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, thrice-yearly H o w t o u s e : Can flick through in library or get contents pages sent to you online
Push technologies Follow on twitter RSS feeds – from blogs, publisher websites, databases Content aggregator – Google Reader Alerts - Westlaw
Westlaw alerts
Saving your sources Ideal for multiple devices: Instapaper Evernote
Social bookmarking: Diigo Delicious
Image thanks go to… Slide 5: ‘Railway byelaws’ marc e marc http ://www.flickr.com/photos/marcemarc/725516685/ ‘Vintage perpetual desk calendar’ by H is for Home http://www.flickr.com/photos/h_is_for_home/3687392107/ ‘Twitter control’ by carrotcreative http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrotcreative/2511539541/ (slide 7) ‘Push the button’ by jamoma.cl http ://www.flickr.com/photos/janoma/4512045844/ (slide 9)