25 - Finding the Law Flashcards
Journals…
Use the library catalogue to find out if a particular journal is in stock as it will show both print and electronic availability.
If you need to find journal articles on a particular subject, use the Legal Journals Index - available within the Westlaw database via your Athens account.
An alternative source is the Index to Legal Periodicals, available in the Library, or as a source within Lexis Nexis Butterworth’s database, again accessible via Athens.
Legal journal references are often abbreviated in the same way that law reports are. To find out what the abbreviations mean use the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations, http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/.
Legal encyclopaedias and dictionaries…
One of the best known legal encyclopaedias is Halsbury’s Laws of England - It is a good starting point for legal research covering all areas of English law, regularly updated with annual supplements, and monthly loose leaf supplements. You must use all relevant parts to ensure that your research is up to date.
For explanations of legal terminology use Stroud’s judicial dictionary of words and phrases or Words and phrases legally defined, both available in the Library.
IT…
There are a number of computer databases reporting cases, the most common being JustCite, Lexis and Westlaw (accessible with your Athens password)
Transcripts of cases can also be obtained online at:
http: //www.bailii.org/ - (British and Irish Legal Information Institute) provides free and up-to-date British and Irish primary legal materials
http: //iclr.co.uk/ Incorporated Council of Law Reporting
Judgements from the Supreme Court are available, usually within two hours of being delivered, at https://www.supremecourt.uk/news/latest-judgments.html
Law Reports…
A law report is a record of a judicial decision on a point of law which sets a precedent. Not all decisions taken in a court of law set a precedent, however interesting they may be in terms of the facts of the case or its consequences.
Sometimes the date in a law report reference is in square brackets, and sometimes it is in round ones, as in
[1973] 2 All ER 97 and (1989) 155 JP 494
A date in square brackets is an essential part of the reference: there has been a volume 2 of the All England Law Reports every year since the series started in 1936, and each of those volumes has had a page 97. So having the bare reference 2 All ER 97 is useless.
A date in round brackets is not an essential element of the reference. For example, the Justice of the Peace Reports first appeared in 1837 and have been numbered annually, on a serial basis ever since so the reference 155 JP 494 is a perfectly adequate reference to enable you to find the report.
The closest to ‘official’ law reports are those published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales.
Reports from The Incorporated Council can be accessed from:
http://iclr.co.uk/
The leading series of general law reports is the All England Law Reports (All ER) which appears in weekly parts.
Some newspapers publish law reports as do many periodicals.
Books…
If you need a general introduction to a specific area of law, a good place to start is a textbook.
E.g. if you want to know about the law relating to divorce, try a key word search on the library catalogue for divorce, or family law.
Remember that the law changes frequently, so always use the most up to date textbook that you can find.
Also check for any recent changes to legislation referred to or developments in case law.
Statutory Instruments…
SI’s are the most common form of delegated legislation (the large body of rules, orders, regulations and bye-laws created by subordinate bodies under specific powers delegated by Parliament).
Statutory Instruments from 1987 are available from the Legislation.gov website http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi.
However, SI’s are frequently repealed or replaced and this information is not available from the legislation site so see the UK Statute Law Database or Halsbury’s Statutory Instrument’s a multi volume work
Statutes…
There are three forms of referring to an Act of Parliament:
Short Title: when we refer to an Act such as the Theft Act, 1968, or the Data Protection Act, 1984,
Official Reference: this shows the calendar year in which the Act was passed and the number of the Chapter (or Act) passed in that year. For example,
1968 CHAPTER 60 is the official reference to the Theft Act, 1968
Full Title: this gives the official reference and a short description of the object of the statute.
The usual way of citing a statute is by its short title.
Most authoritative version is Queen’s Printer’s copy as published by Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.
This overlooks issue of practicality. Queen’s Printer’s version contains no editorial matter by way of commentary, explanation or even cross-reference.
The full text of all Public Acts from the beginning of 1998 onwards may also be found at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/. It contains revised editions of statutes as they come in.
Current Law Statutes Annotated, supplements the Queen’s Printers text with very full annotations, section by section.
Perhaps the most useful version overall, is Halsbury’s Statutes of England - the text is supported by full annotations and there is an updating service which makes it relatively easy to keep track of repeals and amendments as they take place.
However, although editorial comments are useful they are never as authoritative as judicial interpretations of the words of the statute itself and may even be simply wrong.
Parliamentary Debates…
Also known as Hansard.
Official report of what is said in Parliament.
Hansard is available on the Parliament website http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/.
The proceedings of Parliamentary Committees can also be accessed: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/
Bills…
The first stage in creating a new law, following consultation via a government White Paper/ Law Commission Report.
Bills from the current session are freely available on the Parliament website http://services.parliament.uk/bills/.
Progress of Bills can also be tracked using the Progress of Bills List from the Parliament site which is updated weekly http://www.parliament.uk/business/bills-and-legislation/current-bills/public-bill-list/
