Worksheet: Case Law Legal Research Session

Transcription

1 LPAB Legal Institutions Introductory Weekend Intensive, Saturday 4 th November 2017 Worksheet: Case Law Legal Research Session AIM: To show students how to find the full text of Australian and UK cases and additional information about cases. From the Library website: SESSION OUTCOMES SKILL AREA(S) LEVEL(S) Use the Library s Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide to interpret a case citation Identify Select the appropriate database to locate a case Find Find the full text judgments of Australian or UK cases using a range of legal databases Find additional information for Australian or UK cases using CaseBase Find Find Find cases on a topic using CaseBase Find Starting point: Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide Accessible via: Library Website > Study > Subject Guides > Law > Legal Abbreviations OR: Subject Guide LPAB Students > Legal Abbreviations and Law Reports

2 Introduction Case citations give you all the information you need to: Find the full text of a judgment in a case Find additional information about a case In this session you will be learning how to perform these two tasks. 1: Case citation abbreviations The Library s Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide will decipher the abbreviation in your case citation. Just click on the relevant letter (for example, M-N for the abbreviation NSWLR) on the alphabetical list on the left side of the page. Demonstration: R v Young (1999) 46 NSWLR 681 Abbreviation meaning: New South Wales Law Reports Jurisdiction: Australia (New South Wales) Practice: Al-Kateb v Godwin [2004] HCA 37 Abbreviation meaning: Jurisdiction: Practice: Adler v George [1964] 2 QB 7 Abbreviation meaning: Jurisdiction: Tip: Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations another place to find legal abbreviations If you cannot locate your abbreviation in the Library s Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide try finding it in Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations (a comprehensive international legal abbreviations website): If the abbreviation in your citation is referring to a law report (not a court) you can try searching for the name of the law report by Title in the Library Catalogue: If you get stuck trying to find a case get in touch with your Liaison Librarian and ask for help! 2

3 2: Finding Australian cases In addition to deciphering the abbreviation in your case citation, the Library s Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide will also provide you to a link to the best database to find your case using the citation you have been provided. Finding Australian cases via law reports Many (but not all) Australian law report series can be found on the databases Westlaw AU and LexisNexis AU. The database where a law report will be found depends on who publishes the law report. Demonstration using Westlaw AU: R v Young (1999) 46 NSWLR 681 Go to Library s Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide Use A to Z list on left of page to access abbreviations starting with the letters M-N Go to NSWLR New South Wales Law Reports and click on the link at this text. This will take you to Westlaw AU. Enter 46 NSWLR 681 in the Citation field OR R v Young in Case Title / Party Name field > Search Alternatively click on New South Wales Law Reports in the left hand column to browse a drop down menu by volume. Click on the PDF icon to obtain a scan of the judgment from the law report series. Practice using Westlaw AU: Foley v Padley (1984) 154 CLR 349 Question: which shopping mall did this case involve? Answer: 3

4 Finding Australian Cases via Law Reports (cont): Guided practice using LexisNexis AU: Ng v R (2003) 197 ALR 10 Go to Library s Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide Use A to Z list on left of page to access abbreviations starting with the letters A-B Go to ALR Australian Law Reports and click on the link at this text. This will take you to LexisNexis AU. Choose the volume number by clicking on the + sign next to the number Choose the case by clicking on the case name (cases are sorted in page number order). Finding Australian cases on AustLII AustLII is a free website where you can find many Australian cases and all current Australian legislation. If you have a medium neutral citation for an Australian case (a citation where the abbreviation refers to a court rather than a law report) then the Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide will link you to AustLII. Demonstration using AustLII: Al-Kateb v Godwin [2004] HCA 37 Go to Library s Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide Use A to Z list on left of page to access abbreviations starting with the letters G-H Go to HCA High Court of Australia and click on the link at this text. This will take you to the High Court of Australia cases on AustLII. There is a box near the top of the page labelled Specific Year. Select Scroll down the page until you find your case or, alternatively, from the browser choose Edit > Find on this page (or press Ctrl+F on your keyboard) Type in Godwin and hit Enter on your keyboard Any cases with Godwin in the title will be highlighted When you locate the correct case click on the title to see the full text of the case. 4

5 3. Finding UK Cases Many (but by no means all) UK cases can be found on the ICLR Online database. If the abbreviation in your case citation refers to a UK law report series then the Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide may link you to ICLR Online. Demonstration using ICLR database: Adler v George [1964] 2 QB 7 Go to Library s Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide Use A to Z list on left of page to access abbreviations starting with the letters Q-B Go to QB Law Reports, Queens Bench Division and click on the link at this text. This will take you to ICLR. Enter citation [1964] 2 QB 7 in the Citation/Reference box then click on Search. If you do not locate the case by citation, try searching by the party names i.e. Adler v George in the Case Name box Click on the link to the law report [1964] 2 QB 7 - to read the full text judgment. There is a small PDF icon on the toolbar towards the top of the screen to obtain a scan from the law report. Practice: Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire [1989] AC 53 Question: Was there a general duty of care owed by police in this case to identify and apprehend an unknown criminal? Answer: 5

6 4: Finding additional information about Australian and other cases using CaseBase CaseBase provides additional information about Australian and some UK cases to assist in finding, understanding and researching particular cases. Legal Abbreviations Subject Guide > Quick links - Australia > CaseBase - LexisNexis AU CaseBase Demonstration: Al-Kateb v Godwin [2004] HCA 37 Search either by: o Citation eg. < [2004] HCA 37 > o Case/Article name eg. < Al-Kateb AND Godwin > Examples of additional information available for Al-Kateb v Godwin [2004] HCA 37 o Alternative citations: eg. (2004) 219 CLR 562 o Catchwords/Digest eg. Citizenship and migration Detention Mandatory detention Unlawful non-citizen o Cases referring to this case: eg. ASP15 v Commonwealth of Australia [2016] FCAFC 145 o Publications (such as journal articles) referring to the case: eg. Do the Right Thing Judging? The High Court of Australia in Al-Kateb (2005) 24(1) UQLJ 1 Using CaseBase to find cases by subject Example: Find a High Court of Australia case from 2004 which deals with the issue of whether clubs have a duty of care to monitor or moderate the consumption of alcohol by patrons. 6

7 5. Putting it all together: Practice questions Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd [1971] 2 QB 163 Is this an Australian or UK case? Mocatta J. held that the defendants were half to blame for the plaintiff's accident and awarded him in damages. Who were the judges in this case? Pepper Finance Corporation Ltd v Williams [2008] NSWSC 4 Is this a citation for a law report or a medium neutral citation? Which database can be used to access the full text of the judgment? What is the exact date of this judgment? Are there any alternative citations? Wilson v Minister for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Affairs (1996) 189 CLR 1 In what court was this decision handed down? Who was the dissenting judge? CaseBase Practice: Coco v R (1994) 120 ALR 415 O Provide one alternative citation o Cite a journal article referring to this case o Use the Catchwords/Digest sections to say briefly what this case is about o List one reference to legislation considered by this case 7

8 CaseBase Practice: Finding cases by subject: Use CaseBase to find a case from the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal in 2006 that deals with the issue of double jeopardy. ACADEMIC LIAISON LIBRARIAN CONTACT Name Phone Patrick O Mara patrick.omara@sydney.edu.au SESSION FEEDBACK Help us improve our training by completing this form: tinyurl.com/usydlib 8