LEGAL RESEARCH STEP BY STEP
Fact Analysis
FACT ANALYSIS STEPS INVOLVED
To note all the factual details in an in-depth manner
STEP-1: Talk to the parties concerned & prepare detailed notes and NOT miss any information
STEP-2: Go through the relevant documentation, eg – a copy of FIR, seizure report, or any other
STEP-3: Preparing the time-line of facts to refer to at a later stage in the case by reading the interview notes (Step-1) & relevant documents (Step-2) a number of times till you have complete clarity of the facts
STEP-4: Separate the relevant or material facts from irrelevant facts in the case
Beginning Legal Research
IRAC- Issue-Rule-Application-Conclusion
STEP-5: Issue means identification of the problem that is giving rise to a legal claim.
Identifying the main dispute and other disputes, if any
STEP-6: Rule means the rule of law or rules that are applicable in this case.
Research & Identify the legal provisions applicable to the facts of the case
STEP-7: Application is the stage at which you apply the issue to the rule, and assess where you stand.
Read the legal provisions very carefully
Apply the legal provisions to the issue/s in question
STEP-8: Conclusion is the stage where you determine the result of the application of the rule to the particular issue.
Clarity on facts and legal provisions, both, in support of your client and against your client
Material Sources of Law
PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES OF LAW
Difference: impact upon the binding nature and value of the source of law to the court
The primary source has mandatory or binding authority
The secondary source is not of mandatory authority, holds persuasive value, used in order to interpret and analyze the primary sources of law & to advance an argument more forcefully
Hierarchy in the use of sources – If unable to find a primary source, then ascertain secondary sources
What are Primary Sources of Law?
The Constitution
Statutes
Central legislations in Official Gazette of the GOI
State legislations in State Gazettes
Government websites
Bare Acts, Manuals
Judgments decided by courts
(Stare Decisis and Precedent Value)
What are Secondary Sources of Law?
Commentaries on specific laws
International Treaties
Academic Journals – Indian & Foreign
Digests, Treatises, Books
Reports - Law Commission Reports; Committee/Commission Reports; Annual Reports; Parliamentary Committee Reports - Joint Committee, Select Committee & Standing Committee
Parliamentary Debates - Constituent Assembly Debates; Lok Sabha Debates; Rajya Sabha Debates
Parliamentary Bills - Lok Sabha Bills; Rajya Sabha Bills; State Legislature Bills
Legal Dictionaries/Law Lexicons
Legal encyclopedic works – eg. American jurisprudence, corpus juris secundum, Halsbury law of England, and Halsbury laws of India
LIBRARY RESEARCH
STEPS TO LIBRARY RESEARCH
STEP-1: Locate the index of books / catalogue to find out the exact books & location of those books in library
STEP-2: Proceed to read and assimilate the information in the books by preparing notes
STEP-3: More research questions could be identified & Refine your questions and the issues
By following all the above steps, prepare issue-wise detailed notes of arguments and supporting case laws
What do you need to research & Where?
Case laws on a specific topic
Digests
Commentaries
Any particular case law
Law Reporters
Legislative intent & legislative history of any act
Objects and Reasons of the Act (published in the bill)
Parliamentary debates
Law Commission Reports
Standing Committee/ Joint/Select Committee Reports
Reports of the Committee appointed by the ministries for enacting/ reviewing any existing enactments
Corresponding foreign law to any statutory provision in India
Academic Journals – Indian & Foreign
Comparative Law Journals
Meaning of any particular “word” or “phrase”
Law Lexicons / Legal Dictionaries
LEGAL SOURCES
COMMENTARIES ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW COMMENTARIES ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW |
COMMENTARIES ON INDIAN PENAL CODE COMMENTARIES ON INDIAN PENAL CODE |
COMMENTARIES ON EVIDENCE COMMENTARIES ON EVIDENCE |
IMPORTANT DIGESTS |
ACADEMIC LAW JOURNALS Annual Survey of Indian Law (New Delhi: ILI) Journal Indian Law Institute Journal of Constitutional & Parliamentary Studies Indian Journal of International Law Indian Bar Review National Law School of Indian Review Journal of Human Rights (NHRC) |
LAW LEXICONS Advanced Law Lexicon: Encyclopedia Law Dictionary with Legal Maxims, Latin Terms and Words & Phrases(Nagpur: Wadhwa & Co.) Judicial Dictionary (New Delhi: Butterworths India) Judicial Dictionary (Jaipur: Bharat Law Publications) Legal Glossary published by Ministry of Law, Justice & Co. Affairs |
ENCYCLOPEDIC REFERENCE SOURCE Halsbury’s Laws of India, Approx 30 Vols. (New Delhi: Butterworths) |
LAW LEXICONS
CASE LAW RESEARCH
Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dictum
Ratio Decidendi – BINDING – reasoning that is used in the judgment that correlates the facts and the law, and upon analysis determines the outcome of the dispute
Obiter Dictum – NOT BINDING – an observation, reference or discussion and is not central to the decision or determination of the dispute
A lawyer must be able to separate the obiter from the ratio decidendi and reliance must be placed on the ratio
Distinguished Cases: In case Court finds that the ratio has been on the basis of different facts or situation, then that case is distinguished from the present case before the court and will thus not have to follow the prior decision.
LAW REPORTERS |
¨Most widely used and easily available: Supreme Court Reporter - SCR All India Reporter - AIR Supreme Court Cases - SCC Scale (Supreme Court judgments) SCALE Criminal Law Journal CrLJ LABOUR/MATRIMONIAL Numerous reporters are specific to each state. All India Reporter publishes volumes for the states. For example, A.I.R (A.P) refers to Andhra Pradesh High Court judgements. |
How to read a citation? |
Example 1: 1997 A.I.R (SC) 3011 ¨Year of the Case: 1997 ¨Name of the law reporter: A.I.R. (All India Reporter) ¨Name of the Court: SC (Supreme Court) ¨Page Number: 3011 |
Example 2: 1979 SCR (3) 532 ¨Year of the Case: 1979 ¨Name of the law reporter: SCR (Supreme Court Reader) ¨Name of the Court: SC (Supreme Court) ¨Volume Number: 3 ¨Page Number: 532 |
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How to read a case? |
¨Head Notes: Highlights of the judgment, good reference to find out in short what the judgment deals with but at times erroneous |
¨Must always refer to the original case, and not place reliance only upon the interpretation of the case by the author of the article or book |
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INTERNET RESEARCH |
SOURCES OF INTERNET RESEARCH |
1.India Code: This provides access to all the Central legislations as provided by Legislative Department of Ministry of Law. 2.Court Web Sites: This provides links to the websites of the high court and some district courts. a.Causelists: Contains information regarding causelists, including weekly lists, advance lists, daily lists and supplementary lists of the Supreme Court and high courts. b.Daily Orders: It provides the latest daily orders of the Supreme Court and high courts. c.Courtnic: The current status of any case, i.e. information of all pending and disposed cases including next date of listing, date of disposal, etc, is easily available on this site. It also provides the text of latest orders. 3.Judgement Information System: This website contains the cases that are decided by the Supreme Court of India but may not find all the cases. (http://www.judis.nic.in/) |
SUPLIS (Database of Case Laws) |
1.SUPLIS is an indexing database of case laws decided by the honorable Supreme Court. This database consists of more than 42,000 case laws since 1950. 2.Besides retrieval of case laws by subject and case title, it also provides search capability by a “famous case name” (if any) assigned at the time of the entry – for example: “Bhopal Gas Case”, “Rajiv Gandhi assassination case,” “Mandal Commission Case,” etc. 3.Provides “equivalent citations” of case laws |
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SUPLIB (Database of Legal Articles) |
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LEGISLATION INFORMATION SYSTEM |
¨The Legislative Database is a database for central government acts including amendments, rules, bills, and all subordinate legislations relating to central as well as state acts. |
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