Chapter 5: Sources, Libraries And Resources

Question 1

Name the 7 Sub-themes in Chapter 5?

Answer 1

1. Primary and secondary sources of law
2. The library
3. Electronic resources
4. Citation of sources and reference styles
5. Word processing and other software
6. Research travelling
7. Funding your research

Question 2

Name the primary sources of the law?

Answer 2

1. Legislation

2. Case law

Question 3

Name the hierarchy of the law authority in South Africa?

Answer 3

1. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
2. Acts of Parliament
3. Provincial Acts
4. Municipal By-laws
5. Subordinate legislation

Question 4

Name the 3 main challenges for someone who has not had training in legal interpretation?

Answer 4

1. Interpretation force of different components of an Act (short title, long title, heading, chapter, sections, schedule, dates) varies substantially.
2. Using legislative terminology correctly such as when to use section, clause, item.
3. Laws are often amended, repealed or even reformulated.

Question 5

What are case laws?

Answer 5

They are primary sources of law that are precedent-creating judgments of competent courts.

Question 6

In SA, where is much of the law is found?

Answer 6

In the SA legal order, it is mainly found in the judgment of the superior courts.

Question 7

What is judicial precedent also known as?

Answer 7

The Latin term Stare decisis (stand by the decisions).

Question 8

Where did Stare decisis originate from?

Answer 8

From English law roughly 2 centuries ago.

Question 9

When were additional elements of Stare decisis introduced and why?

Answer 9

In 1994 the constitutional democracy was founded on the constitutional value and the overarching precedence of the Constitution and the judgements of the Constitutional Court.

Question 10

Name the 8 points that a researcher needs to keep in mind when doing research?

Answer 10

1. Variety of law reports available
2. Law reports contain a wide range of components such as case annotations.
3. The elements of the written judgments such as the parties, the case numbers, the date handed down, etc.
4. Some may have enhancements such as a fly note, a headnote, annotations, legislation considered by the court.
5. Judgments are available almost immediately online.
6. More than 1 judgment in cases decided by multi-member benches.
7. Stare decisis, it is important to distinguish between ratio decidendi and obiter dicta.
8. Not all judgments are reported in law reports but almost all are found online such as the South African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII)

Question 11

Name secondary sources of the law?

Answer 11

1. Books
2. Journal articles
3. Non-legal materials

Question 12

One can divide online resources into a few non-watertight categories, name them?

Answer 12

1. Focused or single-purpose databases.
2. Electronic or digitized publications
3. Dynamic or irregular sources.

Question 13

Name some of the Comprehensive databases?

Answer 13

1. Juta
2. LexisNexis Online Library
3. HeinOnline
4. Base and ORCID

Question 14

What are some of the additional libraries that a researcher should look at?

Answer 14

1. Sabinet SA ePublications
2. Google Scholar
3. Westlaw International

Question 15

What is ORCID?

Answer 15

ORCID stands for Open Researcher and Contributor ID and it provides a registry of academic publications linked to the unique identification of researchers who obtained the id by registering online.

Question 16

What is BASE?

Answer 16

BASE stands for Bielefeld Academic Search Engine and it was developed by the German Bielefeld University Library. A search will go through over 130 million documents.

Question 17

What is the purpose of a Footnote?

Answer 17

It serves the purpose of streamlining the text by providing references to the justificatory authority for the statements and arguments employed by the author.

Question 18

What should a Footnote contain?

Answer 18

It should contain correct and traceable references to the source or sources on which the author relies for the correctness of the statement or arguments in the text.

Question 19

What should a Footnote not contain?

Answer 19

It is not to serve as a dumping ground for irrelevant, repetitive, or overabundant citations serving as decorative purposes.

Question 20

What should a researcher assume of his own opinion?

Answer 20

He must always assume that his view does not carry any weight and therefore it is important to justify every point by referencing the best authority you can find in the Footnote.

Question 21

What is meant by Research Travelling?

Answer 21

This was when one had to travel to other counties in order to do research in the country’s libraries however with the digital technology advancements, one only needs a laptop and the internet to search. It is noted that not all resources are good and others may be blocked by paywalls etc.