Using Electronic Sources for Case Law

For a refresher on case law, go back to Overview, Law Reports.

Most UK law reports are available electronically in subscription databases. The Bodleian Law Library (BLL) legal databases page lists many databases available to Oxford students. The plethora of legal databases can make it difficult to find the database with the case you need. However, undergraduate students will find most of the law reports on reading lists are available on Lexis Library and Westlaw.

This page suggests strategies for finding case law online when you know party names and citations:

• Search in the right database and do the simplest search first.
• Sometimes you need to know what the abbreviation in a citation stands for before you can find the case.
• Be aware of common reasons searches might fail and how to troubleshoot.
• And finally, make sure your research is up to date.

Searching by subject is mostly covered in the search terms and connectors page, although this page may have helpful advice about which database to use.

Search in the right database

Online sources for the main UK law reports are listed below. If you know what the abbreviation in the citation stands for 'Search our Law Reports & Journals' on the BLL website is useful for finding both print and online sources for law reports.

Dates Abbrev Report series Database 1220-1865 ER & various English Reports / Nominate Reports BAILII, HeinOnline, Justis, Lexis & Westlaw 1865- AC, QB, KB, Ch, Fam etc The Law Reports Lexis and Westlaw 1936- All ER All England Law Reports Lexis 1953- WLR Weekly Law Reports Westlaw 1919- Lloyd's Rep Lloyd's Law Reports i-Law 1954- ECR European Court Reports Justis, Westlaw & the EU's Eur-Lex database 1979- EHHR European Human Rights Reports Westlaw, see also the ECHR's HUDOC database     Transcripts of judgments from 2001, and some older (neutral citation) BAILII - British and Irish Legal Information Institute

Not all law reports on reading lists are UK cases. Australian, Canadian and even US cases crop up on undergraduate reading lists. Information about abbreviations generally indicates jurisdiction. The CaseSearch feature in Lexis can be another useful way to to verify that a citation is correct and to find out which jurisdiction it is. ‘Case Search’ is akin to The Digest, which includes Commonwealth cases and goes back to the 1500s. Canadian and US cases are mostly easily found by citation in Westlaw International. Among free services, Austlii is a useful source for Australian cases.

Do the simplest search first

• For Justis, Lexis and Westlaw, search in the Cases section of the database, rather than from the front page.
• The simplest search term is a single party name, unless all the party names are quite common.
• The next best search is to use two party names joined by proximity connectors, for example, search for home /5 fire rather than R v Home Secretary, ex p Fire Brigades Union. The party name field may search for a string of words (a phrase) or it may put 'and' between each search term. Using proximity connectors avoids these problems.
• Don't search for abbreviations such as A-G or DPP.
• Search by citation if the party name doesn't work or the party names are very common. The law report citation comprises the year, the volume number if any, the abbreviation and the first page, eg [1994] 1 AC 37 or [1988] 1 All ER 55. It is also possible to search by neutral citation, which comprises the year, the court abbreviation and the case number, eg [2008] UKHL 6 or [2010] EWCA Crim 148. The reason for avoiding citation searches is that citations are often given wrong.

See troubleshooting for suggestions as to why a party name or citation search might fail to find the correct result.

Find out what the citation abbreviation stands for

If you search in the right database you don't really need to know what the law report abbreviation in a case citation stands for, but you do need to know that to use ' Search our Law Reports & Journals' or to check the list of law reports in a database. The best online source is the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations. The table at the top of the page provides some abbreviations.

Troubleshooting

Possible reasons why party name or citation searches fail: spelling errors and citation errors such as wrong year or wrong page/case number - try googling the full citation in the hope that the correct version is somewhere online the case is known by more than one party name incomplete citation, eg you search for [2007] EWCA 259 but the citation should be [2007] EWCA Civ 259 you put the search terms in the wrong field (search box).

Possible solutions, in addition to the advice given above:

• If neither the party names nor the citation enable you to find a case, add any information you have about the case (eg, subject, court, judge, year) via the Advanced Search or Option features. Add one additional piece of information at a time.
• To find out if a databases has a specific law report, look at the 'Browse' page in the Cases section. Check the date coverage by clicking on the little i for information icons, or by opening the search page for the specific law report.
• If you cannot find a law report online, go to the law library and browse the shelves - all law reports are shelved alphabetically at 120 for each jurisdiction, or ask a librarian.

Searching by subject

It is usually better to begin research in secondary sources such as textbooks and encyclopedias. These sources will indicate the leading cases on a topic. If searching case law, use the most appropriate database. Both Lexis and Westlaw have extensive UK law reports, so either of these sources is suitable. The Westlaw Case Analysis page provides useful information about a case and links to relevant secondary information in a succinct fashion. Use Advanced Search (in Westlaw) and Search Options (in Lexis Library). Follow the advice given on the Search Terms page.

Updating your research

Each of the main legal databases has their own way of providing information about how a judgment has been subsequently considered in court. This information is crucial in a court system that follows precedent (see the Overview for a reminder about the doctrine of precedent).

• In Westlaw Cases, search for the judgment you are investigating. In the results, open the link to the Case Analysis, then scroll down to 'Cases Citing this Case', to find subsequent judicial history.
• In Lexis, from the Home page, set Cases Source to CaseSearch and search for the judgment you are investigating. The results page for your judgment includes 'Cases Referring to this Case'. This page gives similar content to The Digest, without the useful subject structure found in the print volumes.
• In Justis, use the Justcite feature.

Westlaw and Lexis both claim to be up to date. Lawtel generally has more recent judgments than Westlaw (both are Sweet & Maxwell databases). BAILII publishes transcripts of cases from the higher courts and tribunals very quickly, and can be searched or browsed by court list or by the recent cases link. Cases on BAILII use only the neutral citation, and when the case is reported, add the best report to the citation.

Be aware that no legal databases are 100% correct - it is good practice to check a variety of resources.