Lecture 3 Notes – Using a Law Library & Finding the Law

Legal Method Skills

  • Core competencies expected from law students and researchers:
    • Identify & find relevant legal sources and materials.
    • Extract essential points from those materials.
    • Apply the law to the facts of a problem to generate satisfactory answers.
    • Communicate and justify the answers by citing legal authorities.

Legal Methodology Process

  • Four-stage sequence repeatedly emphasised by Dr. Fareed:
    • Find ➔ Read ➔ Apply / Analyse ➔ Write.
  • "Find" is explicitly characterised as a distinct library & research skill set.
  • Effective legal writing is impossible without efficient finding and analytical reading of the law.

Strategies in Finding the Law

  • Begin with secondary (literary) sources to gain a concise over-view of the legal area.
  • Reading literary sources:
    • Clarifies the basic position of the law.
    • Points the researcher to the controlling primary sources.
  • Secondary sources operate as preliminary research tools that help you locate, evaluate and understand the primary materials.
  • Typical secondary tools:
    • Encyclopaedias
    • Case digests & citators
    • Annotators & commentary services
    • Legal dictionaries
    • Textbooks & monographs
    • Periodical (journal) articles
  • Primary sources contain the authoritative text of the law and ultimately control.

Classification of Legal Materials

  • Secondary (Literary) Sources vs Primary Sources.
  • Visual examples provided in slides (Britannica-style shelves, journal covers, dictionaries, etc.) illustrate the diversity.

Primary Sources of Law

  • Domestic law reports – decided cases.
  • Statutes and subsidiary legislation.
  • Public international law materials:
    • Treaties & conventions.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
    • United Nations General Assembly Resolutions.
    • Decisions of international tribunals.
    • Customary international law.

Secondary Sources in Detail

Encyclopaedias
  • Provide reasonably complete, concise statements of the law; thus an excellent starting point.
  • General sets: e.g. Halsbury’s Laws of Malaysia, Oxford Companion to Law.
  • Subject-specific sets:
    • Atkin’s Encyclopedia of Court Forms in Civil Proceedings (procedural forms).
    • International Encyclopaedia of Intellectual Property Treaties (Ilardi & Blakeney).
    • Encyclopedia of Criminology (Wright & Miller).
Halsbury’s Laws of Malaysia
  • Published by LexisNexis.
  • 1717 hard-cover volumes, each divided by thematic “titles”.
  • Gives succinct narrative statements plus citations to legislation & cases.
  • Accompanied by a continually updated Current Service.
  • Courts occasionally cite it directly, giving it higher persuasive weight than most encyclopaedias.
Textbooks & Other Monographs
  • Textbooks map closely onto academic syllabi; good entry-level reading for beginners.
  • Serve both students and lay readers; many titles are also practitioner-oriented.
  • Spectrum:
    • Introductory works focused on black-letter principles.
    • Specialist or academic works offering critical analysis.
  • Illustrative Malaysian titles shown:
    • Law of Torts in Malaysia (Syed Ahmad SA Alsagoff)
    • Law of Evidence in Malaysia (Omar, Barathi, Mahali)
    • Law of Torts in Malaysia (Sweet & Maxwell label on slide)
    • Rights-oriented handbooks: Malaysians – Know Your Rights; Handbook of Workers’ Rights (T. Balasubramaniam).
Case-Books & “Cases-and-Materials” Volumes
  • Collate leading judgments together with editorial notes.
  • Utility:
    • Enable quick scanning of the legally material facts and holdings; save time reading full law reports.
    • Reduce the universe of cases the student must obtain in full.
  • Sample titles displayed:
    • A Casebook on Contract Law (Brownsword, Smith & Thomas).
    • Complete Tort Law: Text, Cases and Materials (Strong & Williams).
    • Law of Partnership: A Digest of Cases (Padmanabha Rau).
    • Evidence in Malaysia and Singapore: Cases, Materials & Commentary (Rafiah Salim & Cheong).
    • Copyright Law in Malaysia: Cases & Commentary (Ida Madieha, 3rd ed).
    • Criminal Law in Malaysia and Singapore: A Casebook Companion (Yeo, Morgan, Chan).
Law Journals
  • Two broad species:
    1. Practitioner journals – pragmatic orientation; short updates, case notes, practice management.
    • Malayan Law Journal Articles (MLJA)
    • Current Law Journal Unreported (Articles) (CLJU(A)).
    1. Academic journals – in-depth scholarship, often themed.
    • Malaysian Journal of Syariah & Law (MJSL, USIM)
    • IIUM Law Journal (IIUMLJ)
    • Industrial Law Journal (ILJ) and many others.
  • Samples of recent articles showcased:
    • “When Obiter Dictum and Minority View Become Ratio Decidendi” – MLJA 20152015.
    • “Anti-Hopping Laws in Malaysia: History, Legal Evaluation and Quo Vadis?” – CLJU(A) 20252025.
    • “Obligation to Prosecute Heads of State under the Rome Statute…” – MJSL 20192019.
    • “Combating Child Trafficking: Adequacy of Malaysian Law” – IIUMLJ 20212021.
Law Dictionaries
  • Indispensable for definitions, pronunciation, etymology and foreign-language equivalents.
  • English-language staples in USIM library:
    • Osborne’s Concise Law Dictionary (Woodley, 20132013).
    • The Law Student’s Dictionary (Penner, 20082008).
    • A Dictionary of Law (Martin, 20032003).
    • Legal Dictionary (Sinha & Dheeraj, 19961996).
    • A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (Garner).
    • Black’s Law Dictionary (Garner, 20112011).
    • Words, Phrases & Maxims: Legally and Judicially Defined (Anandan Krishnan) – 1919 vols.
  • Malay-language references:
    • Kamus Undang-undang (ILBS, 20122012).
    • Istilah Undang-undang (Sweet & Maxwell, 20082008).
    • Online: Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka PRPM portal.
Legal Abbreviations
  • Law dictionaries often include abbreviation tables; dedicated tools also exist:
    • Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations (Raistrick, 20132013).
    • Bieber’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations (Prince, 20012001).
  • Online services:
    • Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations (covers Commonwealth jurisdictions).
    • Monash University guide (Australian & international focus).
    • Comprehensive US-government acronym index.

Accessing Literary Sources through USIM Library

  • Practical search flow demonstrated in 88 screenshot slides:
    1. Open browser ➔ search “USIM online database access”.
    2. Click “ONLINE DATABASE ACCESS – USIM LIBRARY”.
    3. Log in with Matric No. & i-Student (or Microsoft 365365) credentials.
    4. Choose “Online Database Access” on library portal.
    5. Select the desired database (LexisNexis, CLJ Prime, ProQuest, HeinOnline, JSTOR, etc.).
    6. System redirects through proxy; database search interface appears.
    7. Execute advanced searches for articles, e-books, cases, legislation, etc.
  • Key subscribed platforms highlighted:
    • LexisNexis Malaysia (includes Halsbury’s Laws of Malaysia, Malayan Law Journal).
    • CLJ Prime (extensive Malaysian case & legislation database).
    • HeinOnline (law reviews & historic statute collections).
    • LawNet, ProQuest Central, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, JSTOR, Sage Journals.
    • ClinicalKey (medical), AskZad (Arabic digital library) – listed to show interdisciplinarity.

Authority & Persuasive Weight of Secondary Sources

  • General rule: Secondary sources are NOT authoritative; courts prefer primary sources.
  • They represent the author’s interpretation, and judicial reliance is therefore cautious.
  • Exceptions (traditionally accorded quasi-authoritative status):
    • Halsbury’s Laws.
    • Well-established treatises frequently cited in judgments (e.g. Chitty on Contracts, Sarkar on Evidence).
  • Practical tip: Check whether a secondary author or title has been cited judicially; repeated citation confers persuasive credibility.

Judicial Citations Illustrating Authority of Secondary Works

  • Gin Poh Holdings Sdn Bhd (in voluntary liquidation) v Government of the State of Penang [2018][2018] 33 MLJ 417417 (Federal Court) at 433433 [36] – Raus Sharif CJ cites doctrinal commentary.
  • Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim v Government of Malaysia & Anor [2020][2020] 44 MLJ 133133 (Federal Court) – majority judgment by Nallini Pathmanathan JCA at 198198 [233]–[236] relies on secondary authorities.

Ethical, Philosophical & Practical Take-aways

  • Using the library is itself a learned skill; mastery directly impacts one’s ability to analyse facts and craft persuasive answers.
  • Secondary sources accelerate research but must always be traced back to primary authority for citation.
  • Digital literacy (proxy access, database navigation, keyword logic) is now inseparable from traditional library skills.
  • Awareness of the hierarchy of sources (primary > secondary) safeguards against over-reliance on commentary.