Environmental Law (Level 5)

Tips On How To Use The Law Library

Law Reports
The main sets of reports are the: Law Reports; the Weekly Law Reports; and the All England Law Reports. A report of a particular case may appear in more than one set of reports. All reports are referred to in an abbreviated form.

Abbreviations:

  • Law reports Appeal Cases AC.
  • Law Reports Queens Bench QB.
  • Law Reports Chancery Ch.
  • Law Reports Family Fam.
  • Weekly Law Reports WLR.
  • All England Law Reports All ER.
Other reports such as specialist sets of reports and older seta of Law Reports each have their own abbreviation. A list of abbreviations can be found in the Current Law Case Citator and in Halsbury's Laws Volume 1.

The case reference explained: The format is always the same: the year followed by the volume number (if there is one) followed by the abbreviation for the report series followed by the page number where the report starts. Thus, Department of Transport v North West Water [1983] 1 All ER 892 can be found on pages following page 892 of volume 1 for 1983 of the All England Law Reports. Square brackets around the year denote that the year is essential information for locating the report.

The Digest and the annual current Law yearbooks provide brief summaries of cases filed under subject areas. The Digest also lists all the reports where a particular case can be found.


Legislation
Acts of Parliament are collected in annual volumes but since most are amended a more useful source is Halsbury's Statutes. This is a multi-volume reference work that provides copies of all Acts of Parliament as amended and with annotations. Halsbury's Statutes is divided into subject areas but any Act can be quickly located by checking the Table of Statutes.

As the bound volumes quickly become out of date reference must also be made to the most recent Cumulative Supplement and the Noter-up. The volume number, subject area and page number from the main series must be noted and then checked for additions or amendments. Cumulative Supplements are produced once or twice per year while the Noter-up is a loose leaf book that covers the period since the last cumulative supplement. Both may refer to new Acts which will be in the loose leaf Current Statutes service shelved alongside the Noter-up.

Statutory Instruments are available in full on microfiche and a selected number of these are available in Halsbury's Statutory Instruments which is organised on a similar basis to Halsbury's Statutes.


Periodicals
Legal journals can be divided into general and specialist journals. As examples, The New Law journal is a general journal covering all areas of law whereas the Journal of Planning and Environmental Law is a specialist journal covering Planning Law and Environmental Law. Most legal journals contain a mixture of articles on specific topics, reports or analyses of recent cases and legislation, and news of recent developments.

Articles and reports in legal journals are also referred to by abbreviations, and the same principle is used as for law reports. The year is followed by the volume number, the abbreviation for the periodical and then the number of the first page of the article. Normally the pages are numbered consecutively throughout the year and each year's issues may (if you are lucky!) be bound together as a single volume. Each years' issues are given a volume number (older series of law reports also use this system). As an example John Alder: Environmental Impact Assessment- the Inadequacies of English Law (1993) 5 JEL 203 is an article to be found starting on page 203 of Volume 5 of the Journal of Environmental Law, published in 1993. Round brackets around the year show that the year is not essential information for locating the reference, and that the volume number is more important.

 Some specialist non-legal journals have a useful law section; examples are the Estates Gazette and the ENDS Report. The index to Legal periodicals lists articles in legal journals by subject areas do the Current Law yearbooks.


 Legal Developments
The most useful source of information on whether a case has been followed or referred to since it was reported is the Current Law Case Citator. This lists cases alphabetically and notes every report which refers to them by the year and paragraph number in the Current Law yearbooks.

The Current Law Legislation Citator (previously called Current Law Statute Citator) works similarly. It lists Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments but in year and chapter order, so reference to the alphabetical index may be necessary initially to identify the year and chapter number.

Under each section of an Act the Citator lists amendments, repeals, law reports referring to the section and statutory instruments made under the authority of that section.


Other sources
Legal encyclopedias are also valuable reference tools. Halsbury's Laws of England is a general reference work but there are a number of specialist works (mostly loose leaf) to be found shelved with the law books on that subject area, eg garner's Environmental Law. Legal dictionaries and 'Words and Phrases Judicially defined' may be found next to the Current Law yearbooks. In the same location is Dane and Thomas: 'How to Use a Law Library', from which further guidance may be obtained.