1. Accessing Reliable Legal
Resources
for LGST101 Business Law
Joseph Kennedy
Research Librarian, Law & Business
August 2012
2. You will learn how to locate...
Case Law (Singapore & UK) using LawNet
Singapore Legislation using Singapore Statutes
Online
Singapore Legal Articles and News on Legal Topics
using LawNet
4. Introduction to Case Law
What is Case Law?
Written record of the courts‟ decisions
5. Case Name
Consists of the names of the parties involved
Civil Case
Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd.
Criminal Case
Public Prosecutor v PDM International Pte Ltd
The case name alone is often not enough. There is no indication of the date, where
it was reported, or which case in particular is being referred to (there may be more
than one case)
6. Understanding Reported
Case Citations
Year Volume Reporter Pg
[2004] 2 SLR (R) 594
The citation tells us that the case may be
found in vol 2 of the Singapore Law Reports
(Reissue) for 2004, starting on page 594.
7. Understanding
Neutral Citations
Neutral citation Singapore Neutral
Citations:
Year of decision Court Sequential Number SGCA – Court of appeal
SGDC – District Court
SGFC – Family Court
[2005] SGCA 2
SGHC – High Court
SGJC – Juvenile Court
The citation above tells us that this was the SGMC – Magistrates
2nd case in 2005 in the Singapore Court of Appeal. Court
This is a system of citation where each written judgment SGSC – Supreme Court
from a particular level of court is assigned a sequential SGSCT – Small Claims
number, starting from 1 at the beginning of each calendar Tribunal
year.
13. Finding a case by citation
E.g. Find Chwee Kin Keong and others v
Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR (R) 594
14. Search by Citation
[2004] 2 SLR (R) 594
1. Select “Singapore Law Reports
(Reissue)”
2. Enter the Year,
3. Click on the Vol. and the
“Search” Page no.
16. View Case as it Appears
in the Published Reporter
Retrieve the PDF
document
17. Anatomy of a Reported Case:
Case Heading
Reporter Information
1. Name
of Case 2. Neutral Citation
3. Name of Court
4. Suit or Application No. of Case
5. Judge(s) or Judicial Commissioner(s)
6. Hearing Date(s)
18. Anatomy of a Reported Case:
Editorial Content
1. Catchwords
2. Summary of Facts
of the Case
4. Cases referred to
3. Summary of Holdings
5. Legislation referred to
27. Searching the Law Reports
[1893] 1 QB 256
Enter the Year, the Volume number, the specific Title
abbreviation from the Law Reports series and the
Page number.
32. Singapore Laws
Statutes /Acts
Over 500 statutes/acts listed under “current acts” in LawNet
Each Act is given it‟s own chapter number. („cap‟ for short)
E.g. Companies Act, Cap 50
Subsidiary Legislation
While Acts deal with broad legal principles, Subsidiary
Legislation deals with details such as procedures, admin
matters, technical standards, etc.
E.g. Companies (Application of Bankruptcy Act Provisions)
Regulations, Cap 50, Section 411
34. Singapore Legislation
Available through Li Ka Shing subscribed database -
LawNet
Available on Statutes Online through Attorney-
General‟s Chambers website
(http://statutes.agc.gov.sg)
41. Browsing by Act Title
Locate: Contracts (Rights of Third Parties)
1. Click on Browse
2. Select All Acts from the
drop down menu
3. Select the letter C “By
Title” to browse all Acts
starting with C
42. List of Acts starting with „C‟
Click on Contracts (Rights of Third
Parties) Act for the most current
version of the act
46. Finding Subsidiary Legislation
Locate: Sale of Food (Food Establishments)
Regulations Cap 283, Regulation 5
1. Select Current
Subsidiary Legislation
2. Select S from the
alphabetical list
49. More Legal Resources
Searching a topic? Interested to start a business that
involves gum
…consider the history and recent discussion
What source can you use to gain a better
understanding?
Try: Singapore Parliament Reports
www.parliament.gov.sg (under Publications)
50. Parliamentary Reports
Provides Parliamentary discussion (debates) since
1955 1. Select Singapore
Parliamentary Reports
under Publications
2. Enter your search
term(s)
3. Choose the
relationship of your
terms by Selecting
Search Options
53. Parliamentary Reports
(Hansard)
Provides Parliamentary discussion (debates) since
1955
1. Select Parliamentary Reports
2. Select Hansard Report Search
Link takes you to the free
www.parliamanet.gov.sg site
(under Publications)
55. Singapore Legal Articles
Locate: articles on “offer and acceptance”
1. Select Legal
Research
2. Select
Reference
Material
3. Enter your
Terms
4. Select the term
connectors
5. Select Search
56. Search Results
1. Narrow the 36
results by type of
reference material
2. Select an article
from the List
59. Preventing Technical Issues
with LawNet
1) Always click on LOGOUT before closing
browser or problems WILL occur
2) If you experience any problems accessing LawNet, go to the Library
Homepage and click on FAQ.
3) Type Lawnet and click Ask Us. Read the
recommendations at “What do I do if I
encounter….”
60. An Easy Way to Stay Current
on Legal News in Singapore
Recommend: Subscribe to the daily alert; register at
www.singaporelawwatch.com
Headlines include articles from:
• Business Times
• Straits Times
• Today
Wide array of topics that will
influence business decisions
63. How to approach a law exam question?
Steve Foster, “Answering Problem Questions” in How
to Write Better Law Essays (Pearson Education, 2007)
ch 4 [Contains a sample contract problem]
Location: Reserves
Call Number: KD404 .F67 2007
