Masters Research Tutorial Program 2014

1. Masters Research Tutorial Program2014 Case Law Natalie Wieland

2. Today's Session • Overview of case law including: • Search techniques • Online citators • Casebase (LexisNexisAU) • FirstPoint (Legal Online) • Case citation • Abbreviations • Full text databases • Authorised reports • Finding relevant research guide

3. Learning outcomes: • What is a case citator • How to use Firstpoint and CaseBase to find • a case when you know the party name • a case that refers to legislation • cases on a topic of law • How to find full text decisions • Understanding authorised and unauthorised citations • Finding legal definitions

4. Additional Resources • Law Library Home Page • Law Library Research Guides • Law Library Information Desk • Consultation with Legal Research Skills Adviser – make appointments through Student Services or Masters Office

5. Boolean Logic Links concepts and words into search statement AND – finds records containing both words (limits) OR – finds records containing either one word or the other, as well as both (broadens search) NOT – to exclude a word or phrase “ “ quotation marks = search as a phrase

6. Truncation • Truncation to find all possible endings or alternative spellings (Help or Search Tips) • symbol* finds symbol, symbols, symbolic, symbolism etc. • In LexisNexisAu and Westlaw Au you need to use ! Eg. Negl! To find negligence, negligent, negligently. • wom*n will find women and woman. • colo*r will find occurrences of colour and color and organi*ation will find both organisation and organization.

7. More about search techniques • Indexes and full text databases require the use of different search techniques • Most databases allow the user to search individual fields • Be aware of the content of the database – you can’t find what isn’t there. • Remember to use Boolean operators: AND OR NEAR NOT () • Use proximity operators in full text databases E.g. /p w/10 SUMMARY()

8. Case Citators • What is the purpose of case citators? • provide the correct citation for a case • record if the case has been reported in several report series • track what has happened to the case by providing a list of any cases that refer to the main case

9. Case Citators • Casebase (online citator) -LexisNexisAU • First Point (online citator) – Westlaw Au • LawCite (online and international) • JustCite (UK) Ref: Legal Research Guide Case Law

10. What is case citation? • Each reported case has a unique citation which identifies the law report in which the case has been published. There are well-established rules and conventions about how cases are cited. The following details are necessary for the full citation of judgments: • names of parties • date or volume number, or both • abbreviated name of report series • beginning page of case

11. Case citation • Authorised and unauthorised reports – these rules are available on the library website under Legal Research- Research and tools

12. CaseBase • An Australian case citator • Also some coverage of NZ and UK • Has a record for each judgment it indexes • It is a database designed to allow users to locate judgments and information about those judgments • It does not contain the text of judgment. It has links to the judgments themselves where they are available on other LNAU databases.

14. Lets find a case • Using CaseBase we will find: • Cole v South Tweed Heads Rugby League Football Club Ltd (2004) 217 CLR 469;

16. Finding Case Law • 146 CLR 40 • Scott and CAL • “contributory negligence” • Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996 (Vic) • “duty of care” • By citation • Party name • By subject • By section of an Act • By definition

22. FirstPoint – found at Westlaw Au • An Australian case citator • Has a record for each judgment it indexes • It is a database designed to allow users to locate judgments and information about those judgments • It does not contain the text of judgment. It has links to the judgments themselves where they are available on other Westlaw Au databases.

24. Lets find a case • Using FirstPoint we will find: • Cole v South Tweed Heads Rugby League Football Club Ltd (2004) 217 CLR 469

26. Finding Case Law • 146 CLR 40 • Scott and CAL • “contributory negligence” • Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996 (Vic) • “duty of care” • By citation • Party name • By subject • By section of an Act • By definition

31. Abbreviations/ Dictionaries • Law Library Home Page – legal research – services and tools: • Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations • Guide to citation - AGLC • Law Library holdings list • Casebase list Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary - available on LexisNexisAU

32. Full Text Cases / Law Reports • LexisNexisAU • ALR etc in reports folder and unreported judgments • Legal Online • CLRs, etc in reports folder and unreported judgments • AustLII free online gateway • Cases from courts • Immediately available as “unreported” • Lexis, Westlaw & Justis • UK, US cases Authorised Reports preferred e.g. CLRs (see link at Services and Tools page from Law Library homepage)

33. Lets find a case • We are looking for a case we have read about in the news. • The crown argued that an aboriginal womanTopsy Kundrilba, had given her informed consent to her son's removal from Utopia Station to St Mary's Hostel • You need to search unreported judgments not a case citator

35. Not all cases are online • After using a citator to find a citation for a case, you may find that the full text of the case is not available on line. In this case there’s an extra step involved – you will need to find the case in a paper law report series located on level 4 of the Law Library. The citation will assist you in identifying the series. Use the Holdings List to locate series.

36. CaseBase • Primarily a case citator • Provides- • full case citation • details of subsequent cases • Links to full text cases published by LexisNexisAU • Very useful for finding journal articles on cases.

37. FirstPoint • Also a case citator • Similar in content and coverage to Casebase • Provides links to full text cases published by Lawbook including Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR)

38. Full text • Sometimes the case citators are not enough. You need to refer to the full text databases. • But you will then need to refer to a case citator to get most authorised version and establish what has happened since.

39. Questions? • Refer to the Law Library Home Page • Ask at the Law Library Information Desk • Attend additional classes • Refer to the Library Research Guide