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Law resources

Information Literacy Gateway Subject Resources Law resources

This guide will help you quickly find resources for legal research – whether it be locating an Act or case you have a citation for, or learning about the law on a topic.

Not sure where to start? Check out the legal research flowchart or look at the guides for legislation or case law to learn which resources and strategies to use to find the information you need.

Legal research flowchart

Legislation guide

Case law

Key resources keyboard_arrow_up
  • Westlaw Australia
  • Lexis+
  • AustLII

Case law

  • Find that Case@Flinders
  • AustLII
  • Jade
  • CaseBase Cases
  • Westlaw Australia

Legislation

  • Federal Register of Legislation
  • SA Legislation
  • LawOne (via TimeBase)

Reference and secondary sources

  • Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary
  • Halsbury’s Laws of Australia (Lexis+)
  • Laws of Australia (Westlaw Australia)
  • AGIS Plus Text
Legislation keyboard_arrow_up

All jurisdictions

  • AustLII
  • LawOne (via TimeBase)
  • Westlaw Australia Legislation

Commonwealth

  • Federal Register of Legislation
  • ParlInfo Search
South Australia
  • SA Legislation
  • Hansard
Legislation and legislative resources by jurisdiction
 
This document details where you can find specific types of legislation and legislative resources for all Australian jurisdictions, whether it be:
  • An Act - either the current version, the version as first passed, or an historical compilation
  • Delegated legislation
  • Bills and explanatory memoranda
  • Parliamentary debates or reports
  • Subject indexes

Legislation by jurisdiction

Not sure where to start? Or which resource to use? Or why?

Look at this legislation guide to learn which resource you should use for your research task – whether it be locating the current version of an Act, or how search for Acts on a topic, or how to interpret an Act, etc.

Legislation guide

If you want to learn more about the different legislation resources – what they are and how they can help you – have a look at this document.

Legislation resources

Case law keyboard_arrow_up

Find a case where you have the full citation details

Find that Case@Flinders

Use Find that Case@Flinders to search for any case law abbreviation – it covers both law reports and medium neutral citations.

It will tell you what the abbreviation stands for, plus give you:

  • A link to the resource online
  • Directions as to where you can find the resource in the Law Library
Search for cases
 
These resources are great when you need to find cases on a topic or legal issue, or cases that have referred to a specific Act – they are also useful when you need to locate a case but only have a few details about it (party names, court, date, etc.).
 
  • CaseBase Cases
  • Westlaw Australia Cases

Full-text cases

Use then when you know what database provides the access to a case you need, or when you want to search over the full-text of judgments.

Remember, it is preferable to cite to authorised reports where possible.

Unreported judgments

  • AustLII
  • Jade
Reported judgments
 
  • Westlaw Australia
  • Lexis +

Not sure where to start? Or which resource to use? Or why?

Look at this case law guide to learn which resource you should use for your research task – whether it be locating a known case, finding cases that refer to an Act, updating or noting up a case, searching for cases on a legal topic, etc.

Case law guide

If you want to learn more about the different case law resources – what they are and how they can help you – have a look at this document.

Case law resources

Referencing and abbreviations keyboard_arrow_up

Referencing

Australian Guide to Legal Citation
Online, 4th ed, 2018.

Abbreviations

Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
A comprehensive index to abbreviations of Australian and international legal resources.

Find that Case@Flinders
Use Find that Case@Flinders to search for any case law abbreviation – it covers both law reports and medium neutral citations.

It will tell you what the abbreviation stands for, plus give you:

  • A link to the resource online
  • Directions as to where you can find the resource in the Law Library
 
Dictionaries keyboard_arrow_up

Australian legal dictionaries - for definitions of legal terms

Legal dictionaries are a useful starting point for your research – they give you a short definition of a legal term, point you to key primary sources, and help you understand the area of law the topic fits within and find related terminology and issues.

You can find a range of legal dictionaries in the Law Library at KL40. Some are also available online – the below is the most comprehensive.

Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary
Online, updated periodically.

Legal words and phrases - for legal definitions

These resources point you to primary sources where words and phrases have been legally defined.

Australian Legal Words and Phrases
Online, updated periodically.

English dictionaries - for general definitions

These dictionaries are the most cited within Australian judgments.

Oxford English Dictionary

Macquarie Dictionary

Learn more

Watch this short video to learn how to search legal dictionaries.

Learn more about legal dictionaries – what they are and why you should use them.

Legal dictionaries

Legal encyclopaedias keyboard_arrow_up

Australian legal encyclopaedias

  • Halsbury’s Laws of Australia (Lexis+)
  • Laws of Australia (Westlaw Australia)
  • Law Handbook (Legal Services Commission of South Australia)

International legal encyclopaedia

  • Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law

Learn more

Watch this short video to learn how to search legal encyclopaedias.

Learn more about legal encyclopaedias - what they are and why you should use them.

Legal encyclopaedias

Books keyboard_arrow_up

Books cover broad areas of law and are useful to help understand the legal principles of an area of law and how they might apply in different situations.

Use findit@flinders to search for books and ebooks.

Books in the Law Library are organised differently to the rest of the Library. They are arranged according to the Moys classification system, developed specifically for legal materials. Below are the location numbers for some core topics in law.

 

Administrative law

KM300

Australian legal system

KL26

Business law

KN250

Civil litigation

KN350

Constitutional law

KM76

Contract

KN10

Corporate law

KN260

Criminal justice system

KM570

Criminal law, Australian

KM526

Criminal law, evidence

KM600

Equity

KN200

Evidence

KN390

Health law

KN185

Indigenous Australians and the law

KM208.431

Judicial review

KM306

Legal ethics

KL82

Legal skills

KL66

Legal theory (jurisprudence)

KA10

Property law

KN50

Property law, real

KN60

Public law

KM26

Tort law

KN30

Trusts

KN210

Learn more

Watch this short video to learn how to find law books.

Learn more about law books – the different types, why you should use them, and how to find them.

Law books

Commentary services keyboard_arrow_up

Commentary services are practitioner resources that cover a specific area of law, providing the key information that practicing lawyers need to know.  

Each of the platforms below provide a range of commentary services on different legal topics.

Please check each for relevant titles.

CCH IntelliConnect

Lexis+

1.       Use the main search box

2.       From the results, select to view ‘AU Secondary Materials’

3.       Select the content type ‘Commentary’

Westlaw Australia

  • To search all titles, run your search and filter to the "Publication type" of "Commentary".

Learn more

Learn more about commentary services – what they are, why you should use them, searching v browsing, etc.

Commentary services

Journal articles keyboard_arrow_up

Australian law journal databases

AGIS – Attorney-General’s Information Service (Informit)

The best resource to find information on any legal issue in Australia. It searches over 120 Australian law journals, as well as some international law journals, reports, book chapters, and conference papers.

Australian Public Affairs (Informit)

Useful when researching legal issues that overlap with policy and social sciences.

International law databases

HeinOnline Journals

Full-text of over 2400 US and international law journals.

Westlaw International Materials

Click on "Journals" under "Content Types".

Multidisciplinary databases

findit@flinders
Google Scholar
Proquest

Have the citation of an article you want to read?

If you already have the details of an article, you can find it using findit@flinders.
Simply search for the title and author, and look at the ‘Get it’ box to find a link to the article online. 

Learn more

Learn more about journal articles – the different types, why you should use them, the best ways to find them.

Journal articles

Law reform keyboard_arrow_up

Law reform commissions are appointed by governments to review the law in specific areas and recommend reforms. These commissions

  • publish issues papers
  • seek public input (known as submissions) and consult with stakeholders
  • release discussion papers
  • seek further submissions and consult further with stakeholders
  • provide a full report to the relevant minister

Law reform publications are very informative and an excellent source to:

  • learn of new and developing areas of law
  • find an in-depth analysis of a legal issue, legal principle, or aspect of the legal system
Law reform organisations
 
  • Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC)
  • South Australian Law Reform Institute
  • Other Australian law reform agencies
    (List from ALRC)

Other sources of law reform publications

  • AustLII (Contains reports and papers from most Australian law reform commissions.)
  • AGIS – Attorney-General’s Information Service (Informit)
  • findit@flinders
    Many older law reform papers and reports are held in the Law Library and can be found by searching findit@flinders. Include the phrase “law reform” in your search.
Foreign/comparative law keyboard_arrow_up

Information about researching laws from other countries

These websites provide useful information including:

  • The legal system of the country
  • Where to find the laws of the country, including if they are free and in English

Globalex – Foreign Law Research

LLRX.com – Comparative and Foreign Law

Wikipedia

Search for the country + “legal system”

Another useful resource are legal research guides from the jurisdiction you are interested in. Simply search Google for the country + “libguide”.

Primary and secondary sources

  • WorldLII
  • Westlaw International Materials
  • HeinOnline Journals
  • Westlaw UK
  • EUR-Lex
International law keyboard_arrow_up
  • United Nations
  • International Law Commission
  • Oxford Public International Law
Treaties
 
  • United Nations Treaty Series
  • League of Nations Treaty Series (1919-1945)
  • Australian Treaties Database
  • International Treaties Collection
Courts and tribunals
 
  • International Court of Justice
  • Permanent Court of International Justice
  • International Criminal Court
  • List of other courts and tribunals
Law reports and judgments
 
The full-text of judgments may be found through court and tribunal websites, or from the following sites.
 
  • International Courts and Tribunals Collection (WorldLII)

Secondary sources

  • Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law
    A continuously updated encyclopedia containing peer-reviewed articles on every aspect of public international law. Written and edited by an incomparable team of over 800 scholars and practitioners, published in partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, and updated throughout the year.
  • Halsbury’s Laws of Australia (Lexis+)
    Includes chapters on: civil and political rights, foreign relations, maritime law.
  • Laws of Australia (Westlaw Australia)
    Includes chapters on: human rights, international trade.

The Library also holds a range of books and ebooks on international law.

You can search findit@flinders, or browse the following location numbers for relevant titles.

 

International law

KC80

Public international law

KC100

Human rights

KC200

International criminal law

KC210

International trade law

KC230

Learn about legal resources and research strategies

These videos take you through some of the concepts that are useful to understand when attempting to find, learn about and analyse the law.

An introduction to legal resources

This video provides a very broad overview of what legal research is and ideas behind how legal information is disseminated.

Legal research strategy

This video outlines a very broad legal research strategy that you can follow, no matter what you have been asked to find out.

Things to think about when researching law

This video highlights a number of questions to ask yourself as you search for relevant legal resources.

Legal resources

This video steps through how law is made in Australia and the resources that are produced along the way – both primary and secondary sources.

Useful links

     Legislation guide (PDF)  Case law guide (PDF)  International law  Learn about law resources & research strategies

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