LEGAL RESEARCH NOTES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IDENTIFYING WHAT TO USE .................................................................................................................... 2

SOURCES.............................................................................................................................................................. 3
UNSW Library .................................................................................................................... 3
AGIS Plus Text .................................................................................................................... 4
AUSTLII............................................................................................................................... 5
Australiasian Legal Scholarship Library (International) ..................................................... 5
LawCite .............................................................................................................................. 5
LEGALtrac (International) .................................................................................................. 6
Hein Online (international)................................................................................................ 6
WestlawAU ........................................................................................................................ 7
LEXISNEXIS ......................................................................................................................... 8
Casebase (LexisNexis) ............................................................................................................ 8
Legislation.............................................................................................................................. 9
Commentary .......................................................................................................................... 9
Journals................................................................................................................................ 10
FIRSTPOINT ...................................................................................................................... 10
Commentary ........................................................................................................................ 12
NSW Parliament Hansard ................................................................................................ 12
Federal Parliament Handsard .......................................................................................... 13
NSW Legislation ............................................................................................................... 14
Commonwealth Legislation ............................................................................................. 15
BOOLEAN/LOGIC OPERATORS..............................................................................................................17

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 IDENTIFYING WHAT TO USE

Category Source Notes

Legislation ComLaw Only for Commonwealth Legislation –
Most up to date version of the legislation
NSW Legislation Only for NSW Legislation –
Most up to date version of legislation
Austlii May not be as up-to-date
Easiest to access and navigate
LexisNexis
FirstPoint
Cases LexisNexis (Case Base) Does not have CLR – usually has medium
neutral or ALR as substitute
FirstPoint Does not contain unreported cases
Has CLR and A Crim R
Austlii Does not contain unreported cases
Commentary AGIS Plus Text
LexisNexis Commentary is limited
FirstPoint Good criminal law journal access
UNSW Library Good starting point
Australiasian Legal Generally international and limited
Scholarship Library
LegalTrac
HeinOnline Generally for overseas or older
Westlaw AU
Second reading NSW Parliament Only for state level
speeches Hansard
Federal Parliament Only for federal level
Hansard
General Lexis Nexis has access (one of Use of Lexis Nexis dictionary
information the tabs) to Halsbury Laws of (both physical copy and online
regarding an area Australia – comprehensive guide – one of the tabs). They contain
of law to particular area with relevant definition for area of law and
precedents relevant cases

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 SOURCES

UNSW LIBRARY

USED FOR: BOOKS, ARTICLES (hardcopy), JOURNALS (hardcopy), links to databases

Search databases include SearchFirst and Catalogue. For both, one may click on
advanced search instead of using Booleans. The search results can also be sorted by
“date – newest,” “Title,” and “author.”

The results can also be refined by selecting categories such as:

Show only Full text online Available in Library

Resource Type Books Journal Thesis Articles
Collection FreeHills law Nura Gilli Resource Centre Main Library
Library
Course Code Various e.g. JURD7140, LAWS1140, LAWS2140
Dates Various e.g. Before 1995, 1995-1969, After 1997
Topics Law Constitutional Criminal Corporation
Creator Various relevant authors
Language Various English, French, German, Spanish
Suggested Various, contingent on search
Searches

Click on the location button for each search result to see where the book is
located. The availability is indicated by the line of text above the location button.
Click Subject Guides, Click on the desired topic, databases relating to the topic
will appear.

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 AGIS PLUS TEXT

USED FOR: ARTICLES

*BEFORE SEARCH: click on the Databases tab. Select the Humanities and Social Sciences
Collection. Then the search page will be updated above as indicated by the red box.

The search functions are indicated by the blue box on the right panel of the interface.

The search terms will appear in red

When the database has a direct link to the full text, it will be indicated by the
‘FULL TEXT PDF’ button.
When the database has archives of the journal the ‘BROWSE ISSUE’ button will
be available
When the database does not have a direct link but the resource is available
elsewhere then the ‘SFX’ button will appear. A pop up will appear. Select the
alternative database which has the required article.

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 AUSTLII

Advanced Search

Enter search term in search bar

Select from data base by holding down control
Search for: any/all of these words, legislation, case, document

Search for cases and legislation

Click left hand panel and select the jurisdiction

Go to the relevant court with relevant range OR the relevant set of acts THEN
click on the year when the was decided or act was made
Cases include: those from HCA, Federal Circuit Court, FCA, Family Court of
Australia, Privy Council Appeal, State Supreme Courts, and State Appellate
Courts.
Legislation include consolidated acts, repealed acts, regulations, bills, bills digest,
and explanatory memoranda

AUSTRALIASIAN LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP LIBRARY

(INTERNATIONAL)

USED FOR: ARTICLES

Access this by going to http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/

Basic Search

Type in the search terms in the search bar

Select the databases from which the search term should come from
Click search

LAWCITE

Go to http://www.austlii.edu.au/lawcite/

Search

Citation

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 Parties
Court
Jurisdiction
Article Title
Author
Year
Cases considered
Legislation considered (and section of legislation)

Search Results

Click on search results

Green hyperlink indicate online judgement
Number followed by stars indicate citation index (record)
Shows Cases referring
Cases referred to
Journal articles referred to
Legislation cited

LEGALTRAC
(INTERNATIONAL)

Access via UNSW Library: Search ‘LegalTrac’ click first result (should be ‘database’)

USED FOR: ARTICLES, JOURNALS

Basic search using ‘keywords,’ by ‘subjects,’ ‘publication title,’ and free text
through the ‘entire document
Limit searches to ‘full text,’ ‘peer-reviewed,’ and those with ‘images.’

Advanced Search

Document type ‘article,’ ‘journal,’ ‘legislation,’ ‘case notes,’ and ‘law overview.’
Limit searches to ‘full text,’ ‘peer-reviewed,’ and those with ‘images.’
By publication date with options to choose ‘all dates,’ ‘before,’ ‘on,’ and ‘after.’
By publication title
By publication subject

HEIN ONLINE
(INTERNATIONAL)

USED FOR: US LAW JOURNALS, AUSTRALIA ACTS, ENGLISH/CANADIAN LAW REPORTS

Conduct catalogue search:

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 Select from Publication title, Author, ISBN/ISSN, Series, Subject, Publisher
Enter the key terms
Search via text/article title/author/Description/State/Country/Date

WESTLAWAU

USED FOR: Cases, Journals, News and Current Awareness, Legislation and Commentary
and Legal Encyclopaedia

Basic Search

Type in keywords in search bar

Select ‘free text,’ ‘title,’ or ‘citation’

Advanced Search

Free Text Article Title Author

Journal Title Article Citation Year
Jurisdiction Party Names Legislation Cited

Browse

Content type Cases Journal Legislation and

commentary
Practice area Administrative Criminal Commercial
Product title ACTLR NSWLR Aus Law Journal
Jurisdiction Australia New Zealand

Search Refinement

Sort by relevance
Select how much detail needed in search result from most, some and least
Select content type, practice area, product title and jurisdiction to refine search
Has judgement text from own database or third party database e,g. FirstPoint
Contains classification and some detail about article

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 LEXISNEXIS

CASEBASE

Search

Enter Keywords in the free text section of the search bar

Type ‘and’ instead of ‘v’
Case name
Legislation considered
Sources
Citation
Judgement date
Jurisdiction
Court
Judge
Presentation
Reference to cases

Refine Search

Click on left side panel to see the area of law or the jurisdiction
Click on the relevant case on the right side

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When cases are selected

Name of case (alternative popular name)

Blue hyperlink citation indicates online copies [blue]
Court
Judgement Date
Catch words
Cases referring to this case
Cases this case refers to
Journal articles referring to this case
Cases Cited

Positive Negative Cautionary Neutral Citation info

Treatment Treatment Treatment treatment only

LEGISLATION

Search

Enter Keywords in the free text section of the search bar

Legislation title
Part/order/chapter
Section/Regulation/Rule
Jurisdiction
Sources
Legislation Year and Number
Version (current, historical, enforce on DD/MM/YYYY)
Legislation Type (Acts, subordinate legislation)

Refine Search

Click on left side panel to see the area of law or the jurisdiction
Click on the relevant case on the right side

Provides information on date of assent and amendments

COMMENTARY

Search

Enter Keywords in the free text section of the search bar

Sources
Search within
References to legislation
Reference to cases
Commentary heading
Legislation title

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 Part/order/chapter
Section/Regulation/Rule
Form number
Form title

Refine Search

Click on left side panel to see the area of law or the encyclopaedia it came from
or the document it came from. This includes HALSBURY’s LAWS OF AUSTRALIA
Click on the relevant case on the right side

Provides information on the specific act or case. References other journal articles.
Legislative and judgement breakdown.

JOURNALS

Search

Enter Keywords in the free text section of the search bar

Sources
Article title
Author
Article citation

Refine Search

Click on left side panel to see the journal that the information came from
Click on the relevant journal article on the right side

FIRSTPOINT

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Search FirstPoint in UNSW and click the first search result – should be under the
category of data base

Searches

Allow for Free Text Search

Search by Citation including: judge, date, legislation cited, cases cited

Refining Searches

Key terms are highlighted

Click the document (pdf symbol) to display case
Each case is classified by area – with hyperlink

When case is selected

The case will

appear (scroll
down)
Shows other cited
documents by case
Shows related
documents – such
as cases,
encyclopaedia,
journal and
commentary
related to case
Symbol next to
case name
illustrates
‘treatment’

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 COMMENTARY

Alternatively, click ‘HOME’ on top left corner of website.

This allows for free text search of cases, legislation and commentary, journals,
encyclopaedia and news.

NSW PARLIAMENT HANSARD

Go to http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/

Click on Advanced Search

Search results are displayed in a list, indicating date and the house (council or assembly)
where it came from. Click on one of the results.

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To find the progress of a bill

Click on Bills
Select the time period on which it was introduced (assented, all bills after 1997)
Select the title of the bill by browsing through the alphabet index on the top or
select the session
Click on the bill

Materials Available

Text of bill as passed by both houses

Legislative council and legislative assembly second reading speech
Explanatory notes
The long title of the bill
The date of introduction, readings, assent

FEDERAL PARLIAMENT HANDSARD

Go to http://www.aph.gov.au/

Search (Handsard)

Click Hansard
Enter the date range, Chamber/Committee and the persons involved
Enter in Key terms
Click the title of the desired hansard
Text will appear on the right panel, PDF icon allows for download

Search (bills)

Click ‘bills’ tab

Click more search options

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 Enter in Key terms (bill title only option)
Enter in period (e.g. parliament session or date0
Status of the bill e.g. passed by Reps not by Senate, Assented
Type of bill e.g. private member, government
Click Search

Material Contained

Click the desired bill’s title

First reading speech
Second reading speech
Consideration in detail
Bills Digest
Explanatory Memorandum
Date moved
Date assented

NSW LEGISLATION

Go to: http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/
Click: top left blue ribbon ‘Search’ option.

Select whether the Act /

Regulation desired is ‘In
force’ or ‘Repealed’.

Enter search terms and/

or year

Alternatively, after going

to the website, click top
left blue ribbon ‘Browse’
option. Then select the
letter which the
act/regulation begins
with.

To search bills: select

‘Bills’ on blue ribbon,
then select ‘Search Bills’
then click either ‘Current
Parliament’ or ‘All since
1999’. Then enter in
search terms similar to
the diagram on the left.

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 COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATION

Go to: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/

To search the Constitution

Click ‘Constitution’ on the blue ribbon

Click on the first of the results under the ‘Current’ Tab
o C co – is the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act as amended,
prepared on 04/09/2013

To search acts (see diagram on previous page)

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 Click ‘Acts’ on the blue ribbon
Enter in a term in the ‘Filter by Title’ cell
Click ‘Apply Filter’ then
Click on one of the alphabet combinations to browse by beginning 2 letters
which is most suitable
Click on the current Act desired – search result provides information on
currency, prepared date and the amendment number
Navigation within the act can be done through clicking on the ‘navigation panel’
similar to pdf navigation on the left side of the act – order by Parts

Symbol means that an Act is currently in force

Searching bills

Procedure same as search acts – though none are in force

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 BOOLEAN/LOGIC OPERATORS

AUSTLII BUTTERWORTHS THOMSON WESTLAW AGIS PLUS HEIN ONLINE LEGALTRAC

(LexisNexis) REUTERS TEXT
AND AND AND AND & AND AND AND
OR OR OR OR OR OR OR OR
NOT NOT AND NOT (NOT) NOT % NOT NOT NOT
Wildcard ? * ? * ? ?
Truncation * ! * ! * *
Phrase “” “” “” “” “” “” “”
Standard W/n W/n @n /n %n ~n
proximity
Other proximity DATE =/>/< XXXX +n – proximity NEAR –within Date:[xxxx to
– for range search with sentence yyyy] – range
searches order WITH –within search
w/p – within paragraph ^n – used for
paragraph ! adjacent any relevance
W/sent – within order boosting
sentence @ fuzzy
searches

Example: To search law in the area of ‘Constructive Murder’, some search terms could be

“Constructive” AND “Murder”; “Constructive” /5 “Murder” or “Constructive” w/5 “Murder”; Constructive” +5 “Murder”; “Constructive” ! “Murder”
WITH “Australia”; “Constructive” AND NOT “Felony” AND “Murder” w/20 “Australia”; “Constructive”^5 ~5 “Murder” AND “Australia” Date:[2001-
2014]

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