Case law is simply defined as the body of law set out in judicial decisions. Cases are generally heard in courts of law.
A case citation is a reference to a legal case in published law reports. You will need this in order to locate the report of a case.
It generally includes the
Example:
Anwar Siraj and Another v Ting Kang Chung John [2010] 1 SLR 1026
Identify legal abbreviations using these online and print sources:
* Librarian's preferred choice for non-Singapore sources
Example. If you have a case citation, like Salmah v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172:
Step 1. Identify the legal abbreviation in the citation using an index.
For Singapore cases, use the Singapore Legal Abbreviations index. In this example, SSLR stands for the Straits Settlements Law Reports.
Step 2. Run a Title Search for the law report in LINC:
Step 3. Select the relevant title from the results list.
Step 4. Once in the record, determine the location of the relevant volume.
Step 5. Once you have retrieved the relevant volume from the shelves, turn to the first page of the report, which in this case is page 172.
For a full listing of law databases, see: Guide to Electronic Resources Collection.
Selection of the more commonly used databases for case law:
Australia
China
Europe
vlexJustis
Contains the European Court Reports and Official Journal of the European Communities.
WestLaw
Coverage includes decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (General Court), the Civil Service Tribunal and the EFTA Court.
India
Malaysia
Singapore
Sri Lanka
UK
US
International
* indicates open access database
A selection of websites, mainly from common law jurisdictions, which provide open access to court judgments and awards are listed below.
For ASEAN countries, refer to the ASEAN Law Resources LibGuide.
Australia
Canada
China
European Union/Europe
Hong Kong
India
New Zealand
Singapore
UK
US
Global
International
Guidance on finding case law:
