24 Finding a Case

Finding a known case

The known case approach relies on having some details about the case—either the case citation, the judge’s name, the date of hearing, or some other combination of details.

If there is a known case citation, locating the decision will be straightforward. You can use the A-Z list on the UQ Library Legal Research Guide to:

1. locate the law report abbreviation
2. select the correct law report series
3. use a database or the print copy in your library

Watch Find a case (YouTube 3m41s)

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources such as legal encyclopaedias, books, articles, and looseleaf/commentary are often the best place to start when looking for case law. Important cases and the key points of law will be discussed and referred to by experts.

Keyword searching

Catchwords and summary search

One of the most effective keyword searches you can try is the Catchwords/summary (Lexis+) or Synopsis/digest (Westlaw Australia) search. By searching this field, you will receive a smaller number of more relevant results.

The catchwords are a series of keywords and phrases, separated by dashes, added to the headnote of the case by the law reporter. The purpose is to quickly describe the subject matter of the case, including relevant legislation and provisions. See these example catchwords from Cronin v Hamilton [1958] Qd R 24:

Criminal law — Justices — Assault — Circumstances of aggravation — Punishment — Forms of conviction — Evidence — Sexual offences — Corroboration — The Criminal Code, ss. 19(8), 341-345 — The Justices Act, 1886 to 1949, s. 211.

The summary briefly summarises the matter and outlines the key rulings of the case. Most legal databases will allow the user to refine their search to just these fields.

Full-text searching

A full-text search looks for keywords across the entire text of the case. This is the broadest type of search and will not only receive the largest number of results of all the searches, but possibly also the highest number of irrelevant results. Each database has a specific help section that gives tips to the user on how to search effectively. Consider using Boolean operators, proximity searching, and placing limitations to get the best results.

Legislation and provision

Many legal databases allow you to search for cases that consider a particular Act/Regulation and section. The instructions below show you how to achieve this using the Advanced Search function, but you can obtain similar results using proximity searching (e.g. “Crimes Act 1958” w/s 25) in the full-text search box.

In Lexis+:

1. Select Advanced Search and AU Cases
2. In the Legislation Title field, enter the Act title
3. In the Provision Number field, enter the section number (you do not need to add an “s”).

In Westlaw Australia:

1. Select the Cases link, then Advanced Search
2. In the Legislation Cited (title) field, add the Act title
3. In the Legislation Cited (Provision) field, add the section number (you do not need to add an “s”).

Consider re-ranking any results you have so that decisions from higher courts are at the top of your results.

Words and phrases judicially considered

Searching the words and phrases judicially considered field will find decisions where judges have discussed or defined particular words and phrases.