Sources of Information

for Legal Research

GPR 100
Primary and secondary sources of law in legal research

• Primary Source: A statement of the law itself from a

governmental entity, such as a court, legislature,
executive agency, President or Governor.

• Secondary Source: A Definition

• Materials that discuss, explain, interpret, and analyze
what the law is or what it should be. Secondary sources
also provide extensive citations to primary legal
materials.
 Primary Sources
• court decisions
• statutes
• text of legislative bills
Secondary sources
• Law reviews
• Legal news
• Law reference books (encyclopaedias, dictionaries, etc)
• Articles about law
• Books about law
WHERE DO YOU FIND THE VARIOUS SOURCES OF LAW

• The physical law library

• The electronic law library

 The electronic law library: Databases

• A database is a searchable collection of information.

• A library database is an electronic (online) catalog or
index
• Library databases contain information about published
items
• Library databases are searchable.
• In library research, a database is where you find the
various sources of information.
 Library databases
• Library databases allow you to find:
• Statutes
• Case law
• Articles in Journals/Magazines/Newspapers
• Reference Information (i.e. entries from Encyclopaedias,
Dictionaries, etc.)
• Books & other documents
What types of information do library databases
provide?
Databases provide citation information about the items they index.
A citation typically consists of:
• Author's name
• Title of Article
• Source (i.e. Title of the Journal/Magazine/Newspaper)
• Publisher
• Date of Publication
• Some library databases also provide abstracts of the items they
index. An abstract is a brief summary of the article.
• And some library databases provide the full text (the entire
article) for items they index.
Examples Databases relevant to legal research

Kenyan Resources
Kenya Law <http://kenyalaw.org>
 Examples Databases relevant to legal research

International Resources
• Justis (UK & Singapore)
• JustCite
• ICLR
• LexisNexis
• Westlaw UK
• Thomson Reuters Westlaw
• British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII)
• Southern African Legal Information Institute ( SAFLII)
Case Citation
 Case Citation
• NEUTRAL CITATIONS
• Since the growth of electronic sources there have been unreported transcripts also
available on all the major legal databases.

• [2005] EWCA Civ 101 (this is the 101st case of 2005 in the Court of Appeal Civil
division)
• [2006] EWHC 101 admin(101st case of 2006 in the High Court Administrative division)

• [2003] UKHL (now SC) 5 (5th case of 2003 in the House of Lords (now the Supreme
Court)
• Republic V Director of Public Prosecutions & another Ex Parte Patrick Ogola Onyango &
8 Others; JR Civil application no. 102 of 2016 (29 June 2016)
 Law Reports

Which Law report should you cite?

For a lot of cases you come across there will be a number of
different law reports of that case.
It is important to try and cite the most authorative law
report.
For many countries there is an official series.

To find the most authorative series for the UK you can use an
online case citator tool such as Westlaw Case Analysis,
JustCite or Lexis Library's Case
 Law Reports
Commonly encountered abbreviations for law reports:

• Kenya Law Reports (KLR)

• East African Law Reports (EALR)
UK Law Report Series
• AC Appeal Cases

• Ch Law Reports, Chancery Division

• QB Law Reports, Queen's Bench Division

• KB Law Reports, King's Bench Division

• Fam Law Reports, Family Division

• P Law Reports, Probate Division

 Law Reports
Commonly encountered abbreviations for law reports:

• All ER All England Reports

• BCLC Butterworths Company Law Cases

• Cr App R Criminal Appeal Reports

• LLoyd's LR Lloyd's Law Reports

• SC Session Cases (Scottish)

• WLR Weekly Law Reports

 Parts of a Statute
• Title: (short and long )The title of the statute is the heading on the
preliminary part, furnishing the name by which the act is individually
known.
• Preamble: That part of the statute explaining the reasons for its
enactment and the objects sought to be accomplished.
• Enacting Clause: That part of the statute which declares its enactment
and serves to identify it is an act of legislation proceeding from the
proper legislative authority.
• Body: The main and operative part of the statute containing its
substantive and even procedural provisions. Provisos and exemptions
may also be found in the body of the statute.
 Parts of a Statute
• Repealing Clause: That part of the statute which announces the prior
statutes or specific provisions which have been abrogated by reason of the
new law.
• Saving Clause: a restriction in a repealing act, which is intended to save
rights, pending proceedings, penalties, etc., from the annihilation which
would result from an unrestricted repeal.
• Separability Clause: That part of the statute which provides that in the
event that one or more provisions are declared void or unconstitutional, the
remaining provisions shall still be in force and effect.
• Effectivity Clause: That part of the Statute which announces the effective
date of the law.
 Title of a statute
• Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act; Cap 65; Act
No. 3 of 2003.

• Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act; Cap

59B; Act. No. 9 of 2009.

• Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act no. 2 of

2013
 Scholarly journal articles

Scholarly journals specialize in publishing

technical and research-oriented articles, and
are mostly intended for students and other
scholars.
 Scholarly journal articles
5 Key Characteristics of scholarly articles:
1) Author(s) with credentials (e.g. PhD) and/or affiliations (e.g. university professor)
2) A specific focus on contributing new, original research in a narrow area of the
subject (often indicated through a long title)
3) Technical and formal language with complex ideas and arguments, an objective tone,
and an analytical perspective
4) Lengthy (at least 5 pages of text) with many references, footnotes and/or endnotes
5) Plain appearance with very minimal use of colour, graphics and/or& images
6) There is an abstract
R E Bell “Proving the criminal origin of property in money laundering
prosecutions” (2000) 4(1) Journal of Money Laundering Control 12
 Scholarly journal articles
Components of a legal scholarly journal article:
• Title
• Indicate the author/institutional affiliation
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Discussion/findings/Implications
• Conclusion
• References
Scholarly journal, research journal, peer-
reviewed journal articles
Are
scholarly journals, research journals, and pe
er-reviewed journals the same?
• All 3 terms are often used interchangeably,
however:
• A peer-reviewed journal is scholarly, but not all
scholarly journals are peer-reviewed.
• Not all articles in a peer-reviewed journal go
through the peer-review process. For example,
editorials, book reviews or letters are often not
 Evaluating websites as a source of
information
• Intended audience: Who is the intended audience? Is this
an appropriate site to use in academic work?
• Authority and reputation: Who is responsible for writing
the material? Are they qualified in the subject area? Is
there bias to the site? Does the site give contact details and
links to more information about who has provided the site?
• Subject coverage: Is it an overview, or an in depth look?
Is the subject well covered? How does this site compare
with others on the same subject?
 Evaluating websites as a source of
information
• Accuracy: Has the information on the site been through any editing
or peer reviewing process? Is the information based on research? Are
there references, or links to research? Is there a bibliography? Are
there spelling or grammatical errors? Is the information factual or
opinion?
• Currency: When was the information written? Is there a date when
the site was last updated? How frequently is the site updated? If there
are references to research, how recent are they?
• Ease of use: Is the site easy to navigate? Is it easy to find what you
want? Does the site take a long time to download? Are images used to
illustrate points, or merely as decoration?