Accessing Reliable Legal Resourcesfor LGST101 Business Law

Yuyun W. Ishak, Business Research Librarian2016

You will learn how to locate…

• Singapore Case Law using LawNet• UK Case Law using LawNet• Singapore Legislation using Singapore

Statutes Online

Table of Cases

Case Law

What is Case Law?

Written record of the courts’ decisions

Case Name

Consists of the names of the parties involved

Civil CaseChwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd.

Criminal CasePublic Prosecutor v PDM International Pte Ltd

The case name alone is often not enough. There is no indication of the date, where it was reported, or which case in particular is being

referred to (there may be more than one case)

Reported Case Citations

The citation tells us that the case may be found in vol 2 of the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue)

for 2004, starting on page 594.

Year Reporter PgVolume

[2004] 2 SLR (R) 594

Exercise 1 – SG Case

Chwee Kin Keong and others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR(R) 594

LawNet – by party’s name

LawNet – by party’s name

LawNet – by citation

LawNet – by citation

LawNet – view case

Neutral Citations

Gay Choon Ing v Loh Sze Ti Terence Peter [2009] SGCA 3

Neutral Citations

[2005] SGCA 3

Year of decision Court Sequential Number

The citation above tells us that this was the2nd case in 2005 in the Singapore Court of Appeal.

Singapore Neutral Citations:SGCA – Court of appealSGDC – District CourtSGFC – Family CourtSGHC – High CourtSGJC – Juvenile CourtSGMC – Magistrates CourtSGSC – Supreme CourtSGSCT – Small Claims TribunalThis is a system of citation where each written

judgment from a particular level of court is assigned a sequential number, starting from 1 at the beginning of each calendar year.

Exercise 2 – SG Case

Gay Choon Ing v Loh Sze Ti Terence Peter [2009] SGCA 3

LawNet – by party’s name

LawNet – by party’s name

LawNet – verify

LawNet – by citation

LawNet – by citation

English Cases

Page v Smith[1996] 1 A.C. 155

The Law Reports

List of Titles in the Law Reports series

The Law Reports are published by The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England & Wales

Exercise 3 – English Case

Page v Smith[1996] 1 A.C. 155

LawNet – by party’s name

LawNet - verify

LawNet – by citation

LawNet – missed punctuation

LawNet – by citation

Legislation

Singapore Legislation

Table of Singapore Legislation

Singapore Laws

• Statutes /Acts– Over 500 statutes/acts listed under “current acts” in LawNet– Each Act is given it’s own chapter number. (‘cap’ for short)

• E.g. Companies Act, Cap 50

• Subsidiary Legislation– While Acts deal with broad legal principles, Subsidiary Legislation

deals with details such as procedures, admin matters, technical standards, etc.

• E.g. Companies (Application of Bankruptcy Act Provisions) Regulations, Cap 50, Section 411

Locating Singapore Legislation

• Available through LawNet

• Available on Statutes Online through Attorney-General’s Chambers website (http://statutes.agc.gov.sg)

Exercise 4 – SG Legislation

Sale of Food (Food Establishments) Regulations Cap 283, Regulation 5

Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act (Cap 53B)

Contact Library

library@smu.edu.sgPhone: 6828 0355