Legal Research 2 Flashcards
Problem-solving model
Identify the objective
Gather relevant facts -
Identify which are key, important or peripheral
Identify relevant law -
Some of the law will be irrelevant
Apply law to the facts -
establish relationship of law and facts
Identify possible solutions -
Ensure no alternatives are missed.
Law used as a solution
Also consider the posibilty of doing nothing.
Consider advantages and disadvantages -
Advise on the most appropriate solutions
Present solutions in appropriate form -
report tailored to the recipient.,
Principles of legal research
Knowing where to look.
Useful starting point - Halsbury’s Laws of England.
Commentaries on law (secondary sources).
Then have a look at primary sources. statutes, case law etc…
Search terms - ‘keywords’.
Using indexes -
Table of primary sources.
Recording the research trail -
Vital to record progress of research.
Should include :
- date research was carried out
- full citations for legislation and case law (and all primary sources).
- Books : author, title, edition, year and publisher
- Journal articles - title of journal, title of article, author, year and volume number.
- databases - name of database and name of section in that database.
-keywords used during searches
-page references or website addresses for key pieces of information
-dates of publication
-any dates to which the law as stated is claimed to be up to date by the publisher.
Guideline for searching online databases
Truncation -
pollut! - covers pollute, pollutes or polluting
Wild card characters -
wom*n - retrieve both ‘woman’ and ‘women’
Connectors - ‘Boolean operators’
and - retrieve only those where both first term and second term appear - Narrows search
or - where first term appears and also all documents where second term appears - Exapnds a search for possible synonyms.
Not - computer will retrieve document that contain first but not second. Narrows a search eliminating irrelevant topics
Field searching.- narrow search to specific area e.g. cases.
Avoiding stop words - ‘is’ and ‘have’ ignored.
Refining outcome - re-search if large number of results.
Using the internet
Official websistes.
legislation.gov
UK Parliament
UK Supreme Court
Ministry of Justice
British and Irish Institute of Legal Information
Finding business information
Financial Times
Companies House
Gazette
Research sources
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Secondary Sources
Halsbury’s Laws of England - complete narrative statement of law in England and Wales.
Accessed on Lexis+.
Practical Law -
Summarise the law.
Lexis+ Practical Guidance -
Legislation
Primary - passed by Parliament in Acts
Secondary - made under powers delegated by Parliament. May also take form of statutory instruments (regulations or orders).
Citing Legislation - Human Rights Act 1998.
Statutory instrument - cited by title and by form ‘ SI (year / serial number).
Searching for legislation
Current Law Statutes
Halsbury’s Statutes
-Consolidated index
-Main volumes
-Cumulative Supplement
-Noter-up
Law Reports published by Incorporated Council Of Law Reporting for England
Advocate citing a case is required to use the version in Law Reports.
EU Law
Need to consider potential impact of EU law
EU legislation which applied directly or indirectly to the uK before 11:00pm on 31 December 2020 has been retained in UK law as a form of domestic legislation known as ‘retained EU legislation’.
EU rights and obligations, including directly effective rights within EU treaties continue to be recognised and available in domestic law after exit.
Major sites - Europa, and EUR-lex.
Legal Research
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SQE2 assessments form
Investigate a problem for a client and produce a written note explaining their legal reasoning and key sources they rely on and setting out advice the partner should give to the client.
One in Dispute or Criminal
One in property or wills and intestacy, probate administration and practice (trusts)
One in context of business organisations rules and procedures (including money and financial services).
Criteria
(1) Identify and use relevant sources and information
(2) provide advice which is client focused and addressed the client’s problem
(3) use clear, precise, concise and acceptable language
Application of law
(1) apply law correctly to the client’s situation
(2) apply law comprehensively to the client’s situations.
Reading and Analysing
Some sources will not be relevant.
Secondary sources first.
Written Notes
Use legal writing principles.
Combine facts and law.
Take account of client’s circumstances
Set out legal reasoning.
Cite the case or legislation.
Consider whether it is better to copy thee text or paraphrase it.
