Jean McKay November 2011 Graduate/Summer Clerk Legal Research
Skills Slide 2 Outline - Finding Legislation Official sources of
online legislation State Law Publisher Navigate the SLP website to
find Acts (including historical versions) Commencement information
Set up alerts Comlaw Overview of Comlaws interface Set up My Comlaw
(save searches & alerts) Lawlex Track bills Locate acts, track
changes to legislation Link to EMS, 2 nd reading speeches Extrinsic
materials more ways to locate EMs & 2 nd readings Bills Digest
locate background information on Cth bills Slide 3 Outline: Case
Law Refresher The Basics
Reported/Unreported/Authorised/Citation/Medium neutral
citation/Abbreviations Finding & Noting Up Cases CaseBase on
LexisNexisAU Firstpoint on Legal Online (intro to WestlawAU)
LawCite on AustLII Legislation Judicially Considered AustLII
Advanced Search Search SAT Decisions and more Slide 4 Outline:
Secondary Sources AustLII Advanced Search secondary sources Using
Commentaries Legal Dictionaries + Legal Encyclopaedias Australian
Encyclopaedia of Forms & Precedents AEFP Keeping Up to date Set
up Alerts BarNet Jade Digest Slide 5 Law Subject Guide
http://libraryonline.nd.edu.au/law Slide 6 Legislation Official
Sources State Law Publisher
http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/Index.htmlhttp://www.slp.wa.gov.au/Index.html
ComLaw http://www.comlaw.gov.auhttp://www.comlaw.gov.au Other
sources [BUT must check currency on SLP or Comlaw] AustLII LawNow
on LexisNexisAU LawLex Commentaries LexisNexisAU, CCH
Intelliconnect, Thomson Slide 7 WA Acts Numbered Acts for the Year
Principal & Amending Acts Reprinted Acts Reprints consolidate
principal act Subsequent amendments. Note the official version of
an act for presentation in court in WA is the current reprint +
amendments Consolidated Acts Consolidations are online compilations
incorporating all amendments to the current time Slide 8
Legislation for Court? Western Australia most recent Reprint (print
copy) + printed copies of all subsequent Amendments listed in the
Notes. Commonwealth authoritative online version in PDF can now be
used in legal proceedings. The authoritative tick logo (2 versions)
must appear on every page. Slide 9 For current consolidation open
pdf WA subsidiary legislation (Regulations) online here. Print
versions published in the WA Government Gazette Acts in Force for
current consolidation Versions provide point in time legislation
Slide 10 Assent and Commencement Information Check the Notes table
in each consolidated act for Assent and Commencement information
Acts usually come into force on either Royal Assent, Proclamation,
or on a specific date. Proclamations are made in the Government
Gazette for the State or Commonwealth Commencement information is
usually specified in Section 2 of the Act Individual provisions may
come become operational at a date other than the rest of the act.
Check section 2 of the Act for details. Slide 11 Slide 12 Search in
Acts as Passed to find amendments. Amendments are not listed in
Acts in Force. eg to locate Criminal Law Amendment (Homicide ) Act
2008 Slide 13 Keep Up to Date with State Legislative Changes Alerts
for individual Acts or Regulations Browse to the homepage for the
legislation title you require and then click on the Notify link at
the bottom-right of the page Email Information Notification Service
Slide 14 http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ Slide 15 Slide 16 Slide 17 Slide
18 Lawlex Step 1 Search Legislation Slide 19 Lawlex Step 2: Select
Jurisdiction Com and Enter legislation Title: National Consumer
Protection Act Slide 20 Step 3: Click on Act Slide 21 Core Document
Homepage Link to official version of Act on Comlaw +links to EM, 2
nd reading and more Commencement Information; History of Amendments
Regulations under this Act; Amendments since last Consolidation
Bill...and more Slide 22 AustLII has Commonwealth & States
Legislation Slide 23 Legislation on LexisNexisAU Slide 24 LawNow
Legislation on LexisNexisAU Fulltext of bills, statutes,
subordinate legislation. Links to CaseBase and Halsburys Laws of
Australia BUT coverage only includes recent years. Slide 25
Extrinsic Aids for Interpretation of Legislation To understand
background to legislation or its intention you should consult
following: Bills Explanatory Memoranda explain bill in detail (not
all bills have accompanying EM more common in Cwth) Hansard
(Parliamentary Debates) particularly 2 nd reading speech
Parliamentary Papers and Committee Reports Parliament of WA
http://www.parliament.wa.edu.auhttp://www.parliament.wa.edu.au
Commonwealth Parliament http://www.ahp.gov.auhttp://www.ahp.gov.au
Slide 26 Hansard 2 nd reading speech Bills See Handout: How to Find
Extrinsic Aids to Help Interpret Legislation Slide 27 Bills &
EM Hansard 2 nd reading speech Slide 28 Lawlex links to EM and
Second reading speech Slide 29 Locating Bills, EM & 2nd Reading
Speeches in Print Bills Arranged by parliamentary session &
then alphabetically Explanatory Memoranda (EM) Filed before
relevant bill (not all bills have EMs, especially in WA) 2 nd
Reading Speeches in Hansard Step 1) Consult Hansard subject index
for the year bill passed (sometimes the previous year) WA listed
under short title of act; Commonwealth under Bills Step 2) Note
page numbers for 2 nd reading speeches (also any other committee
reports) Slide 30 http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bd/index.htm
Slide 31 Bills Digest Slide 32 Case Law Refresher Slide 33
Unreported? Reported? Authorised? Unreported Judgments All
decisions appear first as unreported judgments Majority of
decisions go unreported Reported Judgments Appear in published
series of law reports Examples ALR, ALJR,FLR, ATPR, ABC, Fam LR and
many more series Authorised Reports Most produced by Council of Law
Reporting in each state and territory Examples CLR, FCR, NSWLR, VR,
Qd R, SASR, WAR, Tas R and NTLR Slide 34 Unreported Judgments
Majority of decisions go unreported Unreported and not reportable
Reportable but unreported Sources of unreported judgments in
Australia Federal, state and territory on the web AustLII High
Court, Federal Court, many state and territory courts
http://www.austlii.edu.au/ http://www.austlii.edu.au/ LexisNexisAu
High Court, Federal Court, Supreme courts (1987+) Legal Online
Slide 35 Reported Judgements Reported judgments appear in published
series of law reports. What are the criteria for reportability?
introduce a new principle or rule of law significantly modify an
existing principle of law Reported judgements form 10% of total
judgments in NSW AGLC3 Rule 2.3.1 A reported version of a case
should be cited in preference to an unreported version Slide 36
Authorised Reports Authorised reports provide the preferred or
authoritative source of case law. Approved by a judge or associate.
Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR) authorised series for the High Court
available on Thomsons Legal Online. Federal Court Reports (FCR)
authorised series for the Federal Court Each state and territory
has an authorised series of reports - New South Wales Reports
(NSWLR), Victorian Reports (VR), Queensland Reports (Qd.R), South
Australian Reports (SASR), West Australian Reports (WAR), Tasmanian
Reports (Tas R), and the Northern Territory Law Reports (NTLR)
Slide 37 AGLC3 AGLC3 Appendix: Law Report Abbreviations * Asterisk
next to a title indicates authorised report series Slide 38
Citation for a reported decision Mabo v Queensland (1992) 175 CLR 1
Parties names Parties names, v spoken as and. Where R appears it
stands for the Queen or sometimes said Regina Date of decision in
round brackets. This series of reports has volume number175 (note
print volumes would be arranged by volume number) Series without
volume numbers have dates in square brackets (print volumes
arranged by year) eg Howarth v Adey [1996] 2 VR 535 CLR is standard
abbreviation for Commonwealth Law Reports Page number where this
case commences. Pin point refers to the specific page or paragraph
being referred to eg 175 CLR 1, 22 Slide 39 Slide 40 Lange v
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1997) 189 CLR 520 Slide 41
AustLII link to HCA however must cite CLR Slide 42 Slide 43 Cardiff
Guide to Legal Abbreviations Also: Casebase Abbreviations
Australian Legal Journals Index Abbreviations
http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/ Slide 44 Medium Neutral
Citation for Citing Unreported Judgments Medium neutral citation
has: Abbreviation for the court and not a named law report series
Court assigned case numbers rather than a volume and page number
Paragraph numbers rather than page numbers Slide 45 AGLC 3 Slide 46
2.8.1 Preferred unique court identifiers See also list of court
identifiers in Law Librarys guide: Unreported Judgments Medium
Neutral Citation Slide 47 Slide 48 Supreme Court of WA Consolidated
Practice Directions (22 Jan 2009) Submissions and Authorities 14
& 15 provide direction for the citation of reported and
unreported cases. 14. Reported cases must be cited by reference to
the relevant authorised report. Where possible the medium-neutral
citation should appear the first time a case is referred to with
the subsequent references having only the case name although it is
recognised that where there are a number of cases with the same or
similar names, or alternatively popular names, it may be necessary
to cite the reference. 15. Unreported cases must be cited by
medium-neutral citation if there is one.
http://www.supremecourt.wa.gov.au/publications/pdf/SCPracticeDirections.pdf
Slide 49 Incomplete citations? Locate cases on a topic? Noteup
cases? Essential first step DO NOT GOOGLE CONSULT A CASE CITATOR OR
DIGEST Casebase on LexisNexisAU Firstpoint on Legal Online Lawcite
on AustLII Slide 50 Finding cases on subjects... Also Use:
Commentaries on LexisNexisAU; CCH; Legal Online Journal articles
Textbooks; Legal Encyclopaedias and other secondary sources Slide
51 CaseBase on LexisNexisAU Slide 52 Same search on Google? Slide
53 Slide 54 Replaces Legal Online after March 2012 Slide 55 Links
to FirstPoint; Judgment text (note WAR now online); Australian
Digest classifications Slide 56 Slide 57 Legislation Judicially
Considered CaseBase Migration Act ss 229-231 Legislation Judicially
Considered migration act w/p 229 or 230 or 231 FirstPoint
Environmental Protection Act s47 Legislation Judicially Considered
environmental protection act 47 AustLII Legislation Find relevant
section of act and select [Noteup] AustLII LawCite Legislation
Considered evidence act Section 106k Slide 58 More Ways to Find
Legislation Judicially Considered Commentaries LexisNexis -
Australian Current Law Reporter Journal articles See separate
handout Finding Legislation Judicially Considered Slide 59 How to
Find a UK Case on Westlaw R v Brown [1993] all er 75 Open PDF Slide
60 Commentaries were previously called loose leaf services and are
sometimes still referred to by this name eg in AGLC 3 Commentaries
Slide 61 Commentaries on LexisNexisAU - Browse Slide 62
Commentaries on CCH IntelliConnect Key CCH IntelliConnect
Commentaries include: Torts & Personal Injury Law and Trade
practices, Consumer and Contract Law libraries Slide 63 Lawyers
Practice Manual WA Slide 64 Legal Dictionaries Encyclopaedic
Australian Legal Dictionary Australian Legal Words & Phrases
Slide 65 Legal Encyclopaedias Halsburys Laws of AustraliaThe Laws
of Australia Slide 66 Forms & Precedents LexisNexisAU Forms tab
Select Browse for extensive list of resources with forms - Civil
Procedure WA, Criminal Law WA, Wills and Probate Administration WA,
Native Title and many more. Also the major work: Australian
Encyclopaedia of Forms & Precedents (AEFP) AEFP has over 4,000
precedents & forms for non-litigious matters covering over 90
areas of law. Word documents most precents in AEFP can be
downloaded as Word Documents and easily adapted for clients
specific matters. Slide 67 Keep Up to Date
http://libraryonline.nd.edu.au/law Slide 68 What next? Work through
HELP guides on Lawlex LexisNexisAU ( especially CaseBase) WestlawAU
(especially note Firstpoint) CCH Intelliconnect AustLII (especially
LawCite) Familiarise yourself with SLP, ComLaw functionality
Register for SLP Alerts; My Comlaw Commentaries look at the titles
on each service Register on BarNet JADE and the Lawyers Weekly
Slide 69 Further Help? Email [email protected] (even
after you graduate we are happy to provide legal research
support)[email protected] Consult the Law LibGuide
especially Legal Research Refresher WA (ppt available here) Very
Best Wishes from Craven Law Library Staff - Jean, Robyn, Mary-Ann
& Jan
