singapore and uk case law conducted by: carol wee content by: lee su-lin 13 th august 2014 © c j...

Singapore and UKCase Law

Conducted by: Carol WeeContent by: Lee Su-Lin

13th August 2014© C J Koh Law Library 2008-15

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the author. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.

No copyright is claimed in the text of statutes, regulations and court decisions quoted within this work.

© C J Koh Law Library 2008-15

mailto:[email protected]


This tutorial is specifically designed for the Legal Analysis, Research and Communication (LARC) course for first year law students.

The purpose of this tutorial is to teach students how to read Singapore and UK case citations, and to locate cases in the printed law reports.


Contents

1. Primary sources of law p.5

2. Law reports of Singapore p.6

3. The case citation p.14

4. How to find a case if I have a citation p.19

5. Law reports of UK p.33

6. Finding cases with citations p.39

7. Alternative citations p.58

Primary Sources of Law

Primary sources of law are authoritative records of law made by the law-making bodies of Singapore.

The 2 main sources of law are:1.LegislationStatutesSubsidiary legislationQuasi-legislation

2. Case LawDecisions of the Singapore courts.

5

Law Reports of Singapore

Law reports are the published judgments of court cases. Cases are only selected for reporting if they raise or expand upon significant points of law.

Therefore, only a small proportion of cases are reported, and these are mainly from the Supreme Court (i.e. High Court, Court of Appeal and Constitutional Tribunal).

6

Law Reports of Singapore

The principle law report series in Singapore is the Singapore Law Reports. It covers cases from 1965.

Ref: K7599 SLR (1992-); K7599 SLR (1965-1991)

A. Singapore Law Reports

7

http://linc.nus.edu.sg/record=b1196384


Law Reports of SingaporeB. Singapore Law Reports (Reissue)

Ref: K7599 SLR

8

The Academy of Law has re-issued the Singapore Law Reports from 1965 through 2009 with re-written headnotes for the reports from 1965 to 2002, and re-edited judgment texts that conform to the SAL house-style. This set of reports is called the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue).

Both the original SLR volumes from 1965 to 2002, and the Reissue are equally authoritative as each judgment reported in both remains in substance, though not in form, the same.


Law Reports of SingaporeC. Malayan Law Journal

The other law report series which is the major source of reported Singapore court decisions from 1932-1991 is the Malayan Law Journal.

Ref: K7599 MLJ

9


Law Reports of SingaporeD. Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports

The Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports is the authoritative set of grounds of decisions delivered by the Syariah Appeal Board between 1980 and 2010.

Ref: K7599 SSC 10


Law Reports of SingaporeE. Older Law Reports Series

Several discontinued series of law reports contain older cases from the courts of Singapore, Malaya and Borneo.

A complete listing of these reports can be found on p.vii-viii ofMallal’s Digest: Consolidated Table of Cases 2006 Reissue under the section entitled “Reports and Publications and Their Abbreviations”. (Reference: K7599.3 Md 2006)

Here is a reverse chronological list of a selection of old law reports:

There are several discontinued series of law reports that contain older cases from the courts of Singapore, Malaya and Borneo.

A complete listing of these reports can be found on p.vii-viii of Mallal’s Digest: Consolidated Table of Cases 2013 Reissue under the section entitled “Reports and Publications and Their Abbreviations”. (Ref: K7599.3 Md)

Here is a reverse chronological list of major law reports through the years:

11

Title Abbreviation Publication Date Ref

Colony of Singapore Law Reports

(previously calledSingapore Law Reports)

SLR 1954-1957(covers 1953-1956)

1950-1951(covers 1946-1949)

K7599 SLR

K7599 SLR

Straits Settlements Law Reports

SSLR 1927-1950 (new series)(covers 1926-1942)

1893-1931 (old series)(covers 1867-1922)

K7596 SSLR

K7596 SSLR

Federated Malay States Law Reports

FMSLR 1922-1941(covers 1906-1940)

K7600 FMSLR

Straits Law Journal SLJ 1888-1892 K7596 SLJ

Kyshe’s Reports Ky 1885-1890(covers 1808-1884)

K7596 Ky

Straits Law Reports SLR Leic 1877(covers 1827-1875)

K7596 SLR










Law Reports of SingaporeF. Other Sources of Law

Unreported JudgmentsThese are full text transcripts of written judgments as handed down in the Subordinate Courts, the High Court and Court of Appeal. They are available online in LawNet .

Earlier judgments are available in print in the law library:

Ref: K7599 CA (Court of Appeal, Civil Appeals) K7599 CRA (Court of Appeal, Criminal Appeals) K7599 DC (District Court) K7599 J (High Court) K7599 MC (Magistrates’ Court)

“Case Law & Decisions” of the Subordinate Courts and Supreme Court are also available for free for the last 3 months in LawNet under its links to Free Resources. 12

https://proxylogin.nus.edu.sg/lawproxy1/public/login.asp?logup=false&url=http://edu.lawnet.com.sg

http://www.lawnet.com.sg/lnrweb/c/portal/layout?p_l_id=4

Law Reports of SingaporeF. Other Sources of Law

Decisions of Boards/TribunalsDecisions of various tribunals and boards are available online in LawNet. Most of them are not readily available in print.

Decisions include those of the Copyright Tribunal Income Tax Board of Review Military Court of Appeal Syariah Appeal Board Strata Titles Boards.

13

LawNet access: via NUS Faculty of Law Resources



The Case CitationA. What is it?

A case citation is a reference to a legal case in the law reports.

It generally includes the names of the parties to the case year the decision of the court was delivered

or published volume number of the law report abbreviation of the law report series first page at which the case is reported.

Example

Anwar Siraj and Another v Ting Kang Chung John [2010] 1 SLR 1026

14

The Case CitationB. Neutral Citation

The neutral citation system is defined in s.74(8) of the Supreme Court Practice Directions as follows:

“A neutral citation is a Court-approved system of citation which is independent of the series of law reports or other publication, and unique to each written judgment. Each written judgment from a particular level of Court is assigned a sequential number, starting from 1 at the beginning of each calendar year.”

A similar definition can be found in s.53(1) of the Subordinate Courts Practice Directions (2006 Ed.).

15

http://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/data/doc/ManagePage/98/ePD2010/074.htm

https://app.statecourts.gov.sg/Data/Files/File/PracticeDirections/ePD/WebHelp/Para_53.htm

The Case CitationB. Neutral Citation

names of the parties to the case

Example

Court designators includeSGCA – Singapore Court of AppealSGHC – Singapore High CourtSGDC – Singapore District CourtSGMC – Singapore Magistrates’ Court

year of the court decision

jurisdiction/level of court

sequential number

The neutral citation includes

Public Prosecutor v Nguyen Tuong Van [2004] SGHC 54,

paragraph number(s)

[1]

16

The Case CitationC. Citation Practice

According to s74(6) of the Supreme Court Practice Directions, counsel who cite a judgment must use the official series of the law report(s) or, if this is not available, any other law report series in which the judgment was published.

Local law reports are to be cited in order of preference as follows (refer to s74(6) for more details):1. Singapore Law Reports (2010-)2. Singapore Law Reports Reissue 3. Singapore Law Reports (1965-2009)4. Malayan Law Journal.

Also note: Cases reported in the Singapore Law Reports shall be cited using their Singapore Law Reports citations, in priority to their neutral citations (s74(8)(a)).

17




The Case CitationD. Comparative Citations

If you have a case with an original SLR, MLJ or neutral citation and need to determine the corresponding SLR(R) citation, refer to the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Comparative Table of Citations & Table of Cases Reported 1965 to 2009. (Ref: K7599 SLR)

SLR citation

Corresponding SLR(R) citation

18


How to Find a Caseif I Have a Citation?

Step 1:Search an index to legal abbreviations to find out which law report the abbreviation stands fore.g. SSLR

Step 2:Search LINC for specific law report to determine its location in the library

I. Need a Print Copy?

E.g. Salmah v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172

19



Step 1

Find out what the abbreviation SSLR stands for by consulting an index to legal abbreviations.

Print:Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 7th ed. (Toronto: Thomson Carswell, 2010) at App.Ref: KB280.2 Can 2010

Online:C J Koh Law Library, Singapore Legal Abbreviations,http://libportal.nus.edu.sg/frontend/ms/c-j-koh-law-library/research/legal-resources-on-the-web/law-in-singapore/glossaries-and-indexes/singapore-legal-abbreviations 20


http://libportal.nus.edu.sg/frontend/ms/c-j-koh-law-library/research/legal-resources-on-the-web/law-in-singapore/glossaries-and-indexes/singapore-legal-abbreviations




Step 1 (contd.)

A check online usingSingapore Legal Abbreviations indicates that SSLR stands for the Straits Settlements Law Reports


21




Step 2

Enter title of law report here


22

Search the library catalogue LINC (http://libportal.nus.edu.sg)

Select “Title”from drop down menu

http://libportal.nus.edu.sg/


Step 2 (contd.)

Determine availability and location of volume 1929 of the Straits Settlements Law Reports.


23


Step 2 (contd.)


Search for locations of all 1929 volumes 24


Step 2 (contd.)

The 1929 volume can be found in various locations in the Law and Central Libraries. But the most convenient locations for retrieval are the Legislation/Reports and Singapore/Malaysia collections in the Law Library.

Once you obtain the law report, turn to page 172 for the case.


25

http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/content.php?pid=211582&sid=1782289

http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/content.php?pid=211582&sid=1782289


II. Searching Online

You may also obtain Singapore cases from full text databases. Databases are particularly useful when you only have partial citations:

LawNet- the only database that contains a comprehensive collection of Singapore cases.Access via NUS Faculty of Law Resources

Lexis Singapore- contains Singapore cases reported in the Malayan Law Journal from 1954 to 1991.Access via NUS Libraries E-Resources

26

https://lawproxy1.nus.edu.sg/login?url=http://edu.lawnet.com.sg


https://proxylogin.nus.edu.sg/libproxy1/public/login.asp?url=http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/eforms/lexiscom.html


27

E.g. LawNetAccess via NUS Faculty of Law Resources

E.g. Find the case heard in 2010 where one party was Ng Swee Hua

Select LawNet

http://www.law.nus.edu.sg/


28


Enter NUS ID and password


29

1. Legal Research

2.Cases

5. SEARCH

After login, select:

3. Click Simple Search. Enter name of party and year case was heard

4. Select “all of the words” from

drop down menu



30



31

E.g. Find the case with the neutral citation [2013] SGHC 122

1. Select CitationSearch

3. Enter neutralcitation

2. Select Neutral Citation from drop down menu


32

E.g. Find the case with the neutral citation [2013] SGHC 122

1. The Law Reports (1865- )

The official set of law reports published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales

Text of each report is reviewed by judges before publication

So, it takes between 10 and 14 months to report cases

The only set of reports that has a summary of thearguments of counsel

The High Court and the Court of Appeal require that where a case has been reported in the Law Reports, it must be cited from that source. Other series may only be used when a case is not reported in the Law Reports. See Practice Direction (Judgments: Form Citation) (Supreme Court) [2001] 1 WLR 194.

Law Reports of UKA. Modern Reports

33


1. The Law Reports (1865- ) (contd.)

The 4 current series of the Law Reports are:

Title Reports Decisions of Ref

Appeal Cases

(AC)

House of Lords, Privy Council &

Court of Justice of the European

Communities

K2022 4C

Queen’s Bench

(QB)

Queen’s Bench & Court of Appeal & ECJ on appeal from QB

K2022 2E

Family(Fam)

Family Division & Court of Appeal on appeal from Fam D

K2022 1C

Chancery

(Ch)

Chancery Division & Court of Appeal on appeal from Ch D

K2022 3B

Online: ICLR 34



2. The Weekly Law Reports (WLR) (1953- ) Timely, full text reports. Ref: K2020 WNR Online: ICLR

3. All England Law Reports (All ER) (1936- ) Timely, full text reports; contains editorial notes. Ref: K2020 AELR Online: Lexis Library

35




4. Specialist series Contain a selection of cases in a discrete practice

area. e.g. Lloyds Law Reports (maritime and

commercial law)Ref: K2020 LLLROnline: i-law

5. Newspapers Brief, edited reports. e.g. The Times Law Reports

Ref: K2020 TR/ K2020 TLROnline: ICLR

36



Law Reports of UKB. Nominate Reports

The Nominate Reports refer to the various published reports of English cases from the Middle Ages to the 1860s. They are known by the names of the reporters and have been reprinted in:

1. The English Reports (1220-1865)Most comprehensive compilation. 176 volumes of cases & 2 index vols. Ref: K2020 EROnline: Hein Online

CommonLII (free access)

2. The All England Law Reports Reprint (1558-1935)Criterion for inclusion: present day relevance or value to the legal profession.Ref: K2020 AE/ K2020 AEE (extension volumes)Online: Lexis Library 37


http://www.commonlii.org/uk/cases/EngR/

https://proxylogin.nus.edu.sg/libproxy1/public/login.asp?logup=false&url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/legal

Law Reports of UKB. Nominate Reports

The English ReportsRef: K2020 ER

38

Finding Cases with CitationsA. Law Reports

Examples of Case Citations

Ashley and another v Chief Constable of Sussex Police [2008] 3 All ER 573

Sam v Atkins [2006] RTR 171

Patterson v Smiths Dock Ltd and others [2006] 2 AC 572, [2006] 3 All ER 785, 89 BMLR 1

Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile v Sogemin Metals Ltd and others [1997] 2 All ER 917, [1997] 1 WLR 1396

39

Step 1:Search an index to legal abbreviations to find out which law report the abbreviation stands fore.g. WLR

Step 2:Search LINC for law report by title to determine its location in library

40

Need a Print Copy?


Indexes to Legal Abbreviations

Cardiff Index to Legal AbbreviationsOnline: http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/

“Table of Abbreviations” in the first volume for the year in the Current Law YearbookRef: KB3 CLY

Index to Legal Citations & Abbreviations (by Donald Raistrick, 3rd ed., 2013)Ref: KB280 Rai 2013

“Law Reports and Journals and Their Abbreviations” in Osborn’s Concise Law DictionaryRef: KB12 Osb 2013

41


http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/

42


E.g. Use Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations

http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/

Finding Cases with Citations B. Nominate Reports

Examples of Citations

Hall v Hall, 3 Sw. & Tr. 347

Horn v Quash, 1 Keb. 5

Kinshela v Lee, 7 Beav. 300

Lord Fairfax v Lord Derby & Al’, 2 Vern. 612

Uvedale v Halfpenny, 2 P Wms 151

43

I. Need a Print Copy?

Use the indexes to the English Reports. These indicate the volumes of the English Reports in which the cases have been reprinted:

English Reports: Index of Cases (vols. 177 & 178)Alphabetical listing of cases. Use this if you know the name of the case, e.g. Alexander v Comber.Ref: K2020 ER

English Reports Wall ChartUse this when you only have the citation to the case, e.g. I Keb 434. Location: On wall opposite Law Library Information Desk

44


Volume of relevant English Report

Page where case starts

A. Use the English Reports: Index of Cases (vols. 177 & 178) when you have a case name, e.g. Alexander v Comber.

Search Vol 177 (A-K) to find out in which volume andon which page of the English Reports the case is located.

Case name

45


A. Use the English Reports: Index of Cases (vols. 177 & 178) when you have a case name, e.g. Alexander v Comber.

46


Requiredcase

Page 13

Volume 126 of English Reports

B. Use the Wall Chart when you have nominate report citation e.g. 5 Co. Rep. 24

Locate volume of English Report in which nominate report is reprinted.

47

Volume no. of relevant Report Nominate report abbreviation, e.g. Co. Rep.


B. Use Wall Chart when you have Nominate Report citation e.g. 5 Co. Rep. 24

48


Search for5 Co. Rep. 24

Broughton’s Case is the first case that starts on this page

Vol. 77 of English Reports

Need a print copy?

Use Wall Chart

Use Index of Cases

Locate case in the English ReportsRef: K2020 ER

Have Nominate Reportcitation?E.g. 1 Keb 434

Have names of parties?E.g. Alexander v Comber

49


In summary:

50



Search for case by citation or case name in HeinOnline or CommonLII (free access).E.g. Using CommonLII http://www.commonlii.org/uk/cases/EngR/




51



CommonLII http://www.commonlii.org/uk/cases/EngR/

e.g. Williams v Byrne, 7 Ad. & E. 177

If you select Database Search,you can:

a. search by case nameorb. search by citation


52



CommonLII http://www.commonlii.org/uk/cases/EngR/

e.g. Williams v Byrne, 7 Ad. & E. 177

Finding Cases with CitationsC. Neutral Citations

Examples of citations

A v Hoare and other appeals [2008] UKHL 6

Mealing (a child suing by her grandmother and litigation friend) v Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust [2008] EWHC 1664 (QB), [2008] All ER (D) 306 (Jul)

Home Office v Tariq [2011] UKSC 35

A neutral citation contains the jurisdiction and court designator.

53

England & Wales High Court

United Kingdom House of Lords

United Kingdom Supreme Court


E.g. Using BAILII http://www.bailii.org/

54

Free resources from other jurisdictions

E.g.AustLIICanLIIHKLII


Using BAILII http://www.bailii.org/e.g. Barnett & Ors v Nigel Hall Menswear Ltd

55


56

Using BAILII http://www.bailii.org/e.g. Barnett & Ors v Nigel Hall Menswear Ltd

Finding Cases with CitationsD. Using Databases

Major databases: WestLaw

Access via Faculty of Law Resources

Lexis Singapore Access via NUS Libraries E-Resources

ICLR (covers the Law Reports, TLR & WLR) Access via NUS Libraries E-Resources

HeinOnline (English Reports only) Access via NUS Libraries E-Resources

BAILLI Free website at http://www.bailii.org/

For a more comprehensive listing, refer to the Guide to Electronic Resources Collection.

57

Alternative CitationsA. What Are They?

An important case may be reported in several places. There will be a different citation for each law report. Examples:

1.David Wilson Homes Ltd v Survey Services Ltd (In Liquidation) [2001] EWCA Civ 34; [2001] 1 All E.R. (Comm) 449, CA; [2001] Build LR 267, 80 ConLR 8

2.Donoghue (or M’Alister) v Stevenson [1932] AC 562; 101 LIPC 119; 48 TLR 494; 37 Com Cas 350; 1932 SC (HL) 31

*Where a Law Report citation is available, the case should be cited from that source.

58

Alternative Citations B. Finding Alternative Citations

Reference: K2028 EED

One way to find alternative citations for UK cases is to refer to The Digest. This is a multi-volume set containing summaries of UK cases. The set is accompanied by the Consolidated Table of Cases, an index of all cases referred to in The Digest.

59

Alternative CitationsC. Using The Digest

Step 1. Refer to the relevant volume of the Consolidated Table of Cases.There are 3 index volumes (A-G; H-P; Q-Z). Search for the case in the relevant volume. The volume of The Digest that contains the case can be found next to the case name.

Step 2. Look for the case in the “Table of Cases” in the relevant volume of The Digest.The case number can be found adjacent to the case name.

Step 3. Refer to the relevant case number.This provides a summary of the case followed by the citation(s) of the case.

60

Alternative Citations

The case summary is located in Volume 35(3) on Negligence

61

C. Using The Digest

Example: Donoghue v Stevenson

Step 1. Refer to volume “A-G” of the Consolidated Table of Cases.

Search for Donoghue v Stevenson in the alphabetical list. The table shows that the case summary can be found in Volume 35(3) on “Negligence”.


Refer to para 1851 in Vol 35(3)

62

C. Using The Digest


Step 2. Search the “Table of Cases” in Volume 35(3) for the case.

The case number in Volume 35(3) where the case summary can be found is indicated next to the case name.



Step 3. Refer to paragraph 1851.

The paragraph provides a summary of the case followed by its citations.

Citations for Donoghue v Stevenson

63

C. Using The Digest

Para 1851

Updated 8 Aug 2014© C J Koh Law Library 2008-15

Thank you!You have reached the end of this tutorial.

If you have any queries, email [email protected] or speak to a librarian at the C J Koh Law Library Information Desk: 6516 2043.

For comments, send an email to: [email protected]

singapore and uk case law conducted by: carol wee content by: lee su-lin 13 th august 2014 © c j...

Documents

law reports of uk

printed law reports

academy of law

older law reports series

case law decisions

uk case law

main sources of law

authoritative records