Transcript Welcome to CJ Koh Law Library

Presented by Carol Wee
Prepared by Bissy Ithack
19th January 2015
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 C J Koh Law Library-
History, Collection, & Services.
 NUS Library portal- Library Catalogue (FindMore/LINC),
Searching Books & Journal Articles
 Sources of Law- Singapore & UK
 LawNet Database
 Abbreviations & Citations
 CJ Koh Law Library Home PageLegal resources on web
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Chinese Library
C J Koh Law Library
Central Library
Medical Library
Hon Sui Sen
Memorial Library
Music Library
Science Library
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History
The library was originally
established in September 1957,
catering primarily to the Faculty of
Law at the Bukit Timah Campus.
In April 1980, the Law Library
moved to new premises at Kent
Ridge, occupying two floors of the
Faculty of Law building.
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On 1st January 2001, the Law Library
was renamed the C J Koh Law Library,
in appreciation of Mr Koh Choon Joo’s
generous donations to the library.
After extensive renovations which
began in July 2000, the library
celebrated its official opening by the
Honourable Chief Justice Yong Pung
How on 27 February 2002.
Following the Government's
announcement to reallocate Bukit Timah
Campus to NUS on 28 May 2005, the Law
Library made its historic return to its first
home in August 2006.
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C J Koh Law Library has a rich collection of local and
international legal resources.
1st StoreyRBR, Hold Shelf & Theses at Loans Desk
Legislation/Law Reports, Singapore Malaysia Collection,
Current Periodicals.
2nd StoreyBound Journals.
3rd StoreyBooks, ASEAN collection, Chinese collection.
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Loans
RBR (Reserve book readings) can be
borrowed for 2 hours
RBR & Holdshelf books – Please request at Loans Desk
(level- 1)
Loan entitlement : 20 books
Photocopy services
Photocopiers are available at Library. Use Cash card/
EZ link card/ NETS Flash Pay(3¢ per page) to pay.
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This new search engine allows discovery of the library’s
online and print collections in a single search.
 Search by author, title or keyword
 Refine your search to “items in the library catalogue”
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Select LINC tab and search by specific fields like
title, author, keyword, subject or call number.
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Search by
specific fieldTitle
Author
Keyword
Subject
ISBN
E.g.: Redfern and Hunter on international arbitration /by Nigel
Blackaby…[et al.]. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
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Search by Journal title in FindMore/ LINC
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Primary sources of law are authoritative records of law
made by the law-making bodies of Singapore.
The 2 main sources of law are:
1.
o
o
o
Legislation
Statutes
Subsidiary legislation
Quasi-legislation.
2. Case Law
o Decisions of the Singapore courts.
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Introduction
The 2 main sources of legislation in Singapore today:
I. Statutes of the Republic
of Singapore
(primary legislation)
Ref: K7399 1985
II. Subsidiary Legislation of
the Republic of Singapore
(secondary legislation)
Ref: K7449 1990
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Legislative Process
The Legislature, the law-making body in Singapore,
comprises
o the President
o the Parliament of Singapore.
Statutes begin life as Bills which are drafted by legal
officers in the Attorney-General's Chambers.
A Bill becomes law when it is
o passed by Parliament and
o assented to by the President.
An Act comes into force on a date determined by the
Minister and notified by a Commencement Notification
in the Government Gazette.
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Introduction
The United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland
consists of 4 countries forming 3
distinct
jurisdictions,
being
England and Wales; Scotland and
Northern Ireland.
© Travelonline.com
Since
1999,
Scotland
and
Northern Ireland have had
legislative bodies capable of
producing primary legislation for
those regions. In Wales, the
powers of the National Assembly
are limited to producing only
secondary legislation.
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The 2 main sources of UK legislation are:
I. Acts of Parliament (primary legislation)
a. Public General Acts
b. Local and Personal Acts
II. Statutory Instruments (secondary
legislation).
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There are several sources of full text Acts of Parliament.
However, it is important to distinguish between sources
which
 give the law as it currently stands (sources which
incorporate repeals or amendments made since the
Act was passed e.g. Halsbury’s Statutes) and
 sources which give the text of the statute as it was
originally published (e.g. Queen Printer’s copy)
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Where to Find It
UK Statutes and Statutory Instruments
(Legislation & Law Reports collection, Level 1)
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 Law reports are the published judgments of court
cases. Cases are only selected for reporting if they raise
or expand upon significant points of law.
 Therefore, only a small proportion of cases are
reported, and these are mainly from the Supreme
Court (i.e. High Court, Court of Appeal and
Constitutional Tribunal).
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A. Singapore Law Reports
The principle law report series in Singapore is
the Singapore Law Reports. It covers cases from
1965.
Ref: K7599 SLR
Access via LawNet database (Faculty of Law website)
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B. Singapore Law Reports (Reissue)
The Academy of Law has re-issued the Singapore Law
Reports from 1965 through 2009 with re-written
headnotes for the reports from 1965 to 2002, and reedited judgment texts that conform to the SAL housestyle. This set of reports is called the Singapore Law
Reports (Reissue).
Both the original SLR volumes from 1965 to 2002, and
the Reissue are equally authoritative as each judgment
reported in both remains in substance, though not in
form, the same.
Ref: K7599 SLR
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C. Malayan Law Journal
The other law report series which is the major source of reported
Singapore court decisions from 1932-1991 is the Malayan Law
Journal.
Ref: K7599 MLJ
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What is it?
A case citation is a reference to a legal case in the
law reports.
It generally includes the
names of the parties to the case
year the decision of the court was delivered
or published
volume number of the law report
abbreviation of the law report series
first page at which the case is reported.
Example
Anwar Siraj and Another v Ting Kang Chung John [2010] 1 SLR 1026
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Neutral Citation
The neutral citation system is defined in s.63(8) of
the Supreme Court Practice Directions as follows:
“A neutral citation is a Court-approved system of
citation which is independent of the series of law reports
or other publication, and unique to each written
judgment. Each written judgment from a particular level
of Court is assigned a sequential number, starting from 1
at the beginning of each calendar year.”
A similar definition can be found in s.53(1) of The
Subordinate Courts Practice Directions (2006 Ed.)
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Neutral Citation
The neutral citation includes the following
• Names of the parties to the case
• Year of the decision
• Jurisdiction/ Level of court
• Sequential number
• Paragraph number (s)
Example: Public Prosecutor v Nguyen Tuong Van [2004] SGHC 54, [1]
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A. Modern Reports
1. The Law Reports (1865- )
The official set of law reports published by the Incorporated
Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales
Text of each report is reviewed by judges before publication
So, it takes between 10 and 14 months to report cases
The only set of reports that has a summary of the
arguments of counsel
The High Court and the Court of Appeal require that where a case
has been reported in the Law Reports, it must be cited from that
source. Other series may only be used when a case is not reported
in the Law Reports. See Practice Direction (Judgments: Form
Citation) (Supreme Court) [2001] 1 WLR 194.
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Modern Reports
1. The Law Reports (1865- ) (contd.)
The 4 current series of the Law Reports are:
Title
Reports Decisions of
Ref
Appeal Cases
(AC)
House of Lords, Privy Council &
Court of Justice of the European
Communities
K2022 4C
Queen’s Bench
(QB)
Queen’s Bench & Court of Appeal
& ECJ on appeal from QB
K2022 2E
Family
(Fam)
Family Division & Court of Appeal
on appeal from Fam D
K2022 1C
Chancery
(Ch)
Chancery Division & Court of
Appeal on appeal from Ch D
K2022 3B
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Modern Reports
2. The Weekly Law Reports (WLR) (1953- )
Timely, full text reports.
Ref: K2020 WNR
3. All England Law Reports (All ER) (1936- )
Timely, full text reports; contains editorial notes.
Ref: K2020 AELR
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Modern Reports
4. Specialist series
Contain a selection of cases in a discrete practice
area.
e.g. Lloyds Law Reports (maritime and commercial
law)
Ref: K2020 LLLR
5. Newspapers
Brief, edited reports.
e.g. The Times Law Reports
Ref: K2020 TR/ K2020 TLR
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Law Databases- Other law databases are listed under Resources on the
Faculty of Law website: http://www.law.nus.edu.sg/
•Case Track
•LawNet
•Westlaw
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Example : Arbitration Act (Cap. 10), International Arbitration Act
(Cap.143 A)
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Jeffrey Pinsler, “Is Discovery Available Prior to the Commencement of Arbitration
Proceedings?” [2005] SJLS. 64
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Journal articles
Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996:
Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and
other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.
David Feldman, “The Nature of Legal Scholarship” (1989)
52 Mod.L.Rev. 498.
•Find out what journal the abbreviation stands for
•Search for the journal title in LINC/LINC+
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Cases
Siang Hoa Goldsmith Pte Ltd v The Wing On Fire
& Marine Insurance Co Ltd [1998] 2 SLR 777
Singapore Law reports
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1. Print Index:
Donald Raistrick, Index to Legal Citations and
Abbreviations, 3rd ed. (London: Bowker-Saur, 2008).
Location: KB280 Rai 2008 (LW RBR; LW Reference Office; LW
Reference1)
2. Online:
Law Reference Desk
http://libportal.nus.edu.sg/frontend/ms/c-j-koh-lawlibrary/research/legal-resources-on-the-web/law-reference-desk
Librarian’s pick - Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/
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Legal Resources on the Web
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Thank you
If you have any queries, email
[email protected]
or
speak to a librarian at C J Koh Law Library
Information Desk: 6516 2043.
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