Finding Legal Information 2

Home | Where do I start my research | How do I find books on my subject? | How do I find specific materials in law? - Caselaw | How to I cite and manage my sources?
Legislation (Separate webpage)
Secondary Materials - Journals, Looseleaf and Websites (Separate webpage)
Law Database Page (Separate webpage)

This is a guide to locating legal information in both hardcopy and electronic format at Charles Darwin University Library.

Where do I start my research?

A good way to start your research is to define your topic by using subject dictionaries and to find background information in encyclopaedias. It is worth purchasing a legal dictionary and up-to-date text on legal research as these will be useful throughout the law degree program.

• Butterworths Concise Australian Legal Dictionary - LAW REF 340.08
  
• Halsbury's Laws of Australia  LexisNexis Butterworths Legal encyclopaedia covering most areas of Australian case and statute law. Includes full text.
• Law Handbook: An easy to read guide to law in The Nothern Territory

How do I find books on my subject?

To find books on your subject you can: 

search the  Library Catalogue using  the 'topic keyword(s)' or 'subject heading keyword(s)s' option
OR
browse the bookshelves using these call numbers:

How do I find specific materials in law - Case Law

To find legislation and secondary materials click on the appropriate link.

Case Law

Legal Abbreviation & Case Citators

Legal abbreviations and law report citations (Maquarie University)

FirstPoint - LBC's electronic citator of Australian case law back to 1825. It links to the Australian Case Citator and Aust Digest and Aust Legal Monthly Digest which provide digests of cases arranged under subject headings.

Searching by Specific Publishers

AustLII: Australasian Legal Information Institute provides full text access to Australian legal materials including primary legal materials (legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals); and secondary legal materials created by public bodies for purposes of public access.

CCH Library Arranged by subject area, includes full text case law

Law Book Online provides full text access to Australian legal decisions including Australian Criminal Reports, Commonwealth Law Reports, Federal Court Reports Federal Law Reports, Industrial Reports, Local Government and Environmental Reports, Unreported Judgments and selected Australian law journals.

LexisNexis LexisNexis Butterworths Full text acess to the Australian Law Reports, Northern Territory Reports, Australian Capital Territory Reports, New South Wales Law Reports, Queensland Reports, Victoria Reports, All England Law Reports and a small number of selected Australian law journals.

Northern Territory Supreme Court provides full text access to the decisions of the NT Supreme and Magistrates Courts.

Weblaw - a cooperative subject gateway to Internet resources for Australian legal researchers. Law librarians from the participating organisations have taken responsibility for a particular subject area or areas and provide annotated records for quality Internet legal resources in this area. The sites are checked and updated each month.

WestLaw  LBC Thomson provides full text access to Australian, Canadian, UK and US primary and secondary sources.  Case citations can be verified / noted up using the Keycite search facility.

Searching by Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Australian Law Reports - 1973 (Vol 1)+,
Commonwealth Law Reports 1904 (Vol 1)+
Federal Court Reports 1984 (Vol 1)+
Federal Law Reports 1956 (Vol 1)+  
Cwlth Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court 1979+, Federal Court 1980+ and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories.

Court Websites
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
Family Court of Australia
Federal Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 
Industrial Relations Court of Australia
Migration Review Tribunal 
National Native Title Tribunal
Refugee Review Tribunal

ACT

Australian Capital Territory Reports - 1973 (Vol 1)+.  
ACT Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories. ACT Unreported judgments 1973+.

NSW 

NSW Law Reports - Full text cases, 1971 (Vol 1)+
CaseLaw NSW - NSW Court and Tribunal Decisions (Lawlink) (Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Court of Criminal Appeal, Court of Criminal Appeal, Land and Environment Court and Administrative Decisions Tribunal Decisions.)
NSW Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories.NSW Unreported judgments 1962+.

NT

Northern Territory Reports - 1979 (Vol 1)+.  
NT Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases. NT Supreme Court and Magistrates Court Decisions 1984+
Northern Territory Supreme Court provides full text access to the decisions of the NT Supreme and Magistrates Courts
Northern Territory Magistrates Court provides access to court procedure and related materials.
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories. NT Unreported judgments 1985+.

QLD

QLD Reports - Queensland Reports, Queensland Crown Lands Law Reports, Queensland Land Court Reports, Queensland Planning & Environmental Law Reports, Victorian Reports. Full text cases 1980+.
QLD Judgements - searchable site for Queensland judgements
QLD Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories.Qld Unreported judgments 1976+.

SA

South Australian State Reports  1971+
SA Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases
SA judgments from Courts SA
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories. SA Unreported judgments 1986.

TAS

TAS Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories.TAS Unreported judgments 1985+

VIC

Victorian Reports - Full text cases, 1957+.  
VIC Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories.Vic Unreported judgments 1968+.

WA

WA Supreme Court Judgements
WA Case law (AustLII) - Search the AustLII databases
WA Industrial Relations Commission
Workers Compensation Decisions (Workcover)
Unreported judgments - Full text decisions from the High Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of all Australian States and Territories.WA Unreported judgments 1976+.

International

All England Law Reports (UK) 1936+ LexisNexis
AustLII's World Courts & Case Law Links - lists international resources by country
British and Irish Legal Information Institute
HMCS Her Majesty's Courts Service some judgements back to 1996
House of Lords Decisions from November 1996-
LawResearch provides free access to national and international court homepages with links to judgments.
Westlaw's Canada All Case Law
Westlaw's European Union Cases Combined
Westlaw's Hong Kong Case Law Combined
Westlaw's All United Kingdom Reports
Westlaw's All Federal and State Case Law

Selected specialist reports

Australian Company Law Cases (ACLC) - CCH 1971 +
Australian Criminal  Law Reports - 1979+
Australian Industrial Law Reports (AILR) - CCH 1988 +
Australian Intellectual Property Cases (AIPC) - CCH, 1998+
Australian Torts Reports (AustTortsR) - CCH 1998+
Australian Trade Practices Reports (ATPR) CCH 1974+
Industrial Reports - Lawbook Vol 60 1995+. Contains industrial decisions from the High Court, Federal Court, the State and Territory Supreme Courts, and Federal and State Industrial Courts and Tribunals.
Land and Environment Court of New South Wales from 1988.
Local Government and Environmental Cases - LBC 's Local Government and Environmental Reports of Australia (LGERA) and Local Government Reports of Australia, 1972 (Vol 27)+ and selected   unreported decisions

How do I cite and manage my information resources?

Guides to legal citation styles recommended at CDU and other resources including the StudySkills site which provides information on other aspects of presentation: