Postgraduate Induction Session

Ruth Bird 2009

Introduction to UK Common Law Legal Research & Resources

Topics The system of justice Law Reports Legislation Other sources of information

The Judicial System: England & Wales

Criminal and civil cases are decided on adversarial, not inquisitorial, basis.

Ultimate source of law is statutes passed by Westminster or Scottish Parliaments.

Legal duty to comply with EC Law; courts must apply EC law where there is a conflict between the two.

EU Convention on Human Rights built into UK Law in 1998 and binding on public authorities and courts

The Judicial System: Nthern Ireland and Scotland

Nthern Ireland system broadly similar to E&W, with Lord Chancellor as highest officer & Scty of State responsible for criminal law and policing.

Scottish Parlt makes laws on matters devolved to it, with a Minister for Justice responsible for civil and criminal law and justice.

Court Structure

Reference can be made to the

European Court of Justice from any

court in the system.

The European Court of Human Rights

enforces the European Convention

on Human Rights.

Role of the Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court will:

be the final court of appeal for all United Kingdom civil cases, and criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland

hear appeals on arguable points of law of general public importance concentrate on cases of the greatest public and constitutional

importance maintain and develop the role of the highest court in the United

Kingdom as a leader in the common law worldThe Supreme Court will hear appeals from the following courts in

each jurisdiction: England and Wales

The Court of Appeal, Civil Division The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division (in some limited cases) the High Court

Scotland The Court of Session

Northern Ireland The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland (in some limited cases) the High Court

Law Reports – what and how…

Doctrine of Precedent Court hierarchy Structure of a law report Which cases are reported Which reports to use? Citations & abbreviations

What is precedent?

Precedent - a court is bound by the decisions of a court above it and, usually by a court of equivalent standing. Superior courts are able to overrule decisions of lower courts, and sometimes their own decisions.

Law reporting was made more efficient when the Judicature Acts of 1873-1875 created a proper pyramid of authority, completed when the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 made the House of Lords the final Court of Appeal. (The House of Lords has been replaced (Oct 2009) by the Supreme Court.)

What is a law report A law report is a record of the judge’s

reasons for a judgment in a dispute. In England and Wales, only a proportion of

cases decided by courts are reported In most report series, the cases are

selected by law report editors – not the courts

Layout of a report has consistent elements

To be reported a case must: raise a point of legal significance materially modify an existing principle of

law or settle a doubtful question of law may include questions of interpretation

of statutes and important cases which illustrate new applications of accepted principles

What are primary and secondary sources?

Primary sources are direct sources of law - eg, legislation, treaties, law reports (or case law), parliamentary papers, etc.

Secondary sources - opinions, commentaries, articles, discussions.

Which reports to use?

Sometimes a case located online will have parallel citations to different report series.

If there are several versions of a case in several report series, use and cite authorised or best versions of reports.

Authorised versions are written by barristers, read & signed off by judge(s).

The Law Reports, established 1865, are closest to a set of ‘official’ reports (practice direction at [1998] 1 WLR 825)

If a case is not reported there, then cite the All England LR or the Weekly LR; beyond that, no further series are identified

Citing law reports Citation is the abbreviated reference to a

case – in a civil case, the names of the Plaintiff and the Defendant, the year, abbreviation of law report, page number, eg:

Mond v Hyde [1999] 1 QB 1097-in a criminal case usually by the abbreviation R (for Rex or Regina) and the accused, eg:

R v Rowe [2007] 2 Cr App 171 Square brackets are used when there is no

running volume number

Round brackets are used when the date is not necessary for cite, eg Brasstington v Guthrie (1996) 64 TC 435

Neutral citation Used for electronic version of law reports Refers to year of decision, the court, a running

number for the case, and then uses paragraph numbers instead of page numbers, eg:

Morris v KLM [2001] EWCA Civ 790 at (3)

This refers to paragraph 3 of the 790th judgment of 2001 in the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal.

R v Rowe [2007] EWCA Crim 635

This refers to the 635th judgment of 2007 in the Criminal Division of the CA

How to identify abbreviations Online at Cardiff site - http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk

Raistrick, D. Index to legal citations and abbreviations. Cw UK R159c2

Card catalogue section of abbreviations in the law library (red drawer labels)

Index volumes of Halsbury’s Encyclopedia, and of The Digest

K.U. Leuven site – http://www.law.kuleuven.be/rechtsaf/index.phtml?page=uk

Searching Case Law using paper

The Law Report Indexes (“Red Book”) - all citations to a case; search by subject; research judicial history.

All England Law Reports (“All ERs”) have an index by subject, case name, and list cases and legislation judicially considered.

Current Law Yearbook - summaries of significant cases, legislative details, words and phrases judicially considered. Also the Current Law Case Citator for judicial history

Searching Case Law - The Digest Compendium of case law, covers the UK, Ireland,

the Commonwealth & the EU, from medieval times to the present day.

Provides summary (“digest”) of cases organised by subject, with the citation to the full text report and the judicial history of each case

The Digest volumes are revised and reissued when necessary to take account of changes in law and practice.

It follows the same title classification and arrangement as Halsbury’s Laws of England.

Includes a cumulative supplement, consolidated table of cases, and a consolidated index

Why use The Digest?

Provides key case law in a subject area Citations to law reports Judicial history of cases Useful source for tracing older case law Is not available in electronic format Shelf location: Cw UK 150 E58a3

Searching Case Law - Halsbury’s Laws of England

Encyclopedia of law including authoritative commentary, statute and case law, analysis and background information

Arranged alphabetically by subject. Updated by yearly supplement and

monthly updating service

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Searching & updating the law - Current Law

Case law and statutory developments from 1947-date

Digests cases from most series of law reports and quality newspapers

Current Law Case Citators give citations for cases and judicial history

Alphabetical table of cases and index to subjects

Shelf location: Cw UK 200 C976c

Finding cases by name

In books: Current Law Case Citator Law Report indexes – red indexes The Digest Halsbury’s – Table of Cases volumesOn-line: Key databases such as Lexis,

Westlaw, Bailii

Finding cases by topic

The Digest Halsbury’s Laws of England Current Law Lexis, Westlaw, Bailii

Legislation Types of legislation How statutes are made Structure of an act Commencement of an act Citation Statutory instruments

Types of Legislation

Primary legislation Bills – precursors to Acts – Public, Private

& Hybrid Acts or Statutes – Public general, Local

and Personal Secondary or delegated legislation

Statutory instruments, (S.I.s) or Regulations

Other subsidiary legislation – Bye-laws, Orders, Codes of Practice etc

How an act (statute) is made

Need for a law comes about from various sources – election promises, a specific event, law commission reports, Royal commissions and Public Inquiries

Preparatory Stages Consultation stage – organised by government

dept. sponsoring the bill – (this is a Green Paper, which, once agreed, becomes a White paper – basis of bill)

Bill is drafted by parliamentary draftsmen within the relevant department.

How an act is made (ii)

The House Of Commons First Reading (letting Members know about

the Bill) Second Reading (explaining the purpose of

Bill, questions) Committee Stage (detailed examination by a

Standing Committee) Report Stage (further consideration &

changes by whole House Third Reading (Overall examination – can only

pass or reject at this stage)

How an act is made (iii)

The House Of Lords First Reading Second Reading Committee Stage (usually a C’tee of the whole

House Report Stage (Consideration of Amendments) Third Reading (Can still be amended in HoL)(If amended, Bill has to go back to Commons) Royal Assent (granted via Letters Patent or, at

end of a session, via a Commission)

Where to find… Information on pre-legislative materials online:

Current Legal Information (CLI) – LRDI (‘grey papers’) database http://cli.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/

(Also on Westlaw)

Lawtel – Bills, Command Papers and News & Press databases http://www.lawtel.com/my_lawtel/welcome.asp

Internet – check Government websites and the Parliament website http://www.parliament.uk/

Where to find bills Information on Bills

Parliament website• http://www.parliament.uk/bills/bills.cfm

Hansard Weekly Information Bulletin Sessional Information Digest LexisLibrary CLI Lawtel BLL list of bills received -

http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/law/e-resources/legislation (under UK& Ireland - ‘Parliamentary Bills’)

Where to find acts Original text of Acts as passed:

Queen’s Printer’s copy Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website

• http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ Current Law Statutes Justis Westlaw & LexisLibrary Law Reports Statutes

Current Acts incorporating amendments: Halsbury’s Statutes (Cw UK 30 H196a4) Statute Law database http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/ LexisLibrary Westlaw

Commencement / coming into force

Once a bill receives Royal Assent, it usually will come into force

However: Some Acts require a Commencement

Order before they take effect – (use noter ups, or LexisLibrary to check)

Some Acts are never brought into force (eg. Easter Act 1928)

Citing legislation

Acts are numbered sequentially during the year as they receive Royal Assent

Acts are referred to either by their short name or by their Act or Chapter number – eg,

• Name of Act 2003 (c42) or c42, 2003

Public General Acts are cited using Arabic numerals, e.g.: Companies Act 1985 (c 6)

Prior to 1963 Acts cited by regnal year, e.g.: Debtors Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict cap 62)

Citing legislation (ii)

Acts (continued): Local and Personal Acts are cited using

Roman numerals, e.g.:• British Railways (Liverpool Street Station)

Act 1983 (cap. iv) Private Acts are cited using Arabic

numerals given in italics, e.g.:• Hugh Small and Norma Small (Marriage

Enabling) Act 1982 (cap. 10)

Citing Bills

Bills A Bill is assigned a new number each

time it is reprinted References to Parliamentary Bills should

include short title, Parliamentary Session in round brackets and Bill number, e.g.:• Prevention of Terrorism HC Bill (2004 –

2005) 61• Prevention of Terrorism HL Bill (2004 – 2005)

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Where to find… ..the status of a piece of legislation

Online:• LexisLibrary• Justis• Lawtel• Westlaw and CLI

• http://bills.parliament.uk/AC.asp In paper:

• Current Law Statute Citators Cw UK 20 C976• Halsbury’s Statutes –Is it in force? Cw UK 30 H196a4• Halsbury’s Statutory Instruments Cw UK 90 S5797.2

Example of Annotation in Westlaw- and exclamation mark next to the section:

Once section is selected, a warning note appears

Statutory instruments

Statutory instruments are also known as Regulations – over 3000 introduced each year.

SI’s are subordinate legislation, made by the government department responsible for an act

They cover the implementation aspects of an act, eg. Building Regulations, Road Rules

Citing Statutory Instruments

S.I.s Draft S.I.s are not numbered Once an SI is approved it receives the

next sequential number within the year, e.g.:• The Licensing Act 2003 (Personal licences)

Regulations 2005 S.I. 2005 No.41 The Statute Law database lists the date

of deployment of regulations.

Some other book resources

Legal journals – in paper, and online via OU e-journals, and on Lexis, Hein Online & Westlaw. (They have less standing than in European legal systems)

Loose-leaf services – often combine legislation with section commentary, and analyse related cases

Textbooks – specialist subject case books

Summary Use the list of databases on the Law Library

website http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/law/e-resources/d

atabases

Law Library website also contains self-paced tutorials http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/law/guides

Refer to the Parliament website for background information and current status on England’s legislation http://www.parliament.uk/