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.
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