TOPICS

Case law, case law as a source of law

The importance of previous decisions; 4.1.1.

Common law and equity; 4.1.2.

Court hierarchies in Australia; 4.1.3.

Distinguishing different kinds of hearing; 4.1.4.

Basic procedure in a civil trial; 4.1.5.

Case law, the doctrine of precedent. 

The purpose of the doctrine; 4.2.1.

Cases that are potentially relevant as precedents; 4.3.

The importance of 'similarity'; 4.3.1.

The jurisdiction and seniority of courts;  4.4.

The relevance of court hierarchies to the doctrine of precedent; 4.4.1.

Precedents that are not binding; 4.5.

Taking account of non-binding precedents; 4.5.1.

The 'ratio decidendi' of a case; 4.6.

Identifying the ratio decidendi; 4.6.1.

 Case law, information in law reports

The structure of a law report; 4.7.1.

Case names; 4.7.2.

Identifying the plaintiff and defendant; 4.7.3.

Dates; 4.7.4.

Catchwords; 4.7.5.

Headnotes; 4.7.6.

The court and the judges; 4.7.8.

Counsel; 4.7.10.

Special terms and phrases found in law reports; 4.7.11.

Case law, the structure of a law report

Knowing what to look for; 4.8.1.

Case law, collections of law reports

How particular collections of reports are found; 4.9.1.

Selection of cases in particular reports; 4.9.2.

Title pages; 4.9.3.

Reference to the series in a law report; 4.9.4.

Authorised reports; 4.9.5.

 Case law, citing a law report

Citing cases that are published in a law report series; 4.10.1.

Other kinds of citation; 4.10.2.

Information in citations; 4.10.3.

Using a citation to find a law report; 4.10.4.