Successful legal research involves the development of special knowledge and skills in finding, interpreting and using the law and legal materials.

Legal Systems

Legal research can require a consideration and understanding of the main legal systems that have developed in the world systems. These are: Common Law, Civil Law, Religious systems and Socialist systems - each based on different historical traditions, customs and interacting influences.

Jurisdictional legal studies and research

Additionally research may be focused on the law of a particular country or jurisdiction particularly in UK-based LLB and LLM courses on:

United Kingdom and devolved jurisdictions, European Union, European countries, Commonwealth countries - including many African and Caribbean countries, Middle Eastern countries, United States of America, Central and South American - including Latin American countries.

Globalisation in all aspects of our lives and particularly business, communication, education and politics has increased the need for ready and reliable access to multi-national materials, for sources of law from many jurisdictions around the world.

Comparative law

Alternatively research may require a more comparative approach, look at aspects of the law in several countries or analysing approaches to a particular topic in different legal systems.

Legal themes and subject approaches

Equally legal research might involve a topical approach, focusing on one or more traditional legal subject areas such as: company and corporation law, family law, property law as well as increasingly inter-disciplinary and socio-legal dimensions.

International law

There are also international and geo-political angles, demonstrated by the law relating to or produced by international, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations. Legal research normally distinguishes two broad types of international law : Public International Law - the body of law governing the relations between states, international organisations and, sometimes, individuals; and Private International Law - law governing interactions among peoples of different citizenship or private relationships across national borders and may involve disputes over which country's law applies.

Forms of legal literature

Successfully legal research involves a knowledge and familiarity with the particular forms of legal literature relevant to the law of a particular country or international law or comparative and topical legal themes.

The main forms are: primary materials stating the law such as: constitutions , legislation (with variant instrument names and components according to legal system and/or jurisdiction), treaties , case law (derived from reports of court cases at differing levels in the judicial process); and secondary materials reflecting and commenting on the law such as official documents , consultation papers , journals and textbooks commentaries.

Similarly awareness of the structure and layout of primary legal documents - the parts of a statute (short title, official citation, long title etc.) and the parts of a law report (names of parties, court, judge etc.) enables effective legal research, particularly in advanced segment searching of statutes or law reports in full-text online legal databases.

Sources of law materials

As well as knowing what to look for it is necessary to know where to look for law materials - to trace the sources of legal literature relevant to a particular jurisdiction, or area of topical study.

Internet sources - All forms of legal literature for jurisdictions around the world are represented to varying degrees by information sources on the Internet - both those made freely available on the web and those contained within fee-based services requiring an ongoing subscription.

There is also a wealth of material concerned with in legal subject areas that can support comparative academic and professional work.

The expansion of Web 2.0 interactive and participatory technology on the Internet is redefining user expectations and producing new sources offering reusable results and expanded support services - based on self-expression and collaboration .

It is important for legal researchers to identify ways to ensure that these sources play a productive and beneficial part in their work.

Integrating successful use of web resources into the legal research process

Comparable and compatible skills are involved in finding and using relevant legal information sources and pursuing legal research.

Legal Research skills include: identifying and analyzing a problem; finding appropriate information to solve the problem; and presenting the results

Legal Information literacy and Internet research skills involve: assessing the information needed; finding that information effectively and efficiently; evaluating the content and its sources critically, using that information appropriately - incorporating selected elements into own work with awareness of economic; legal and social issues surrounding use of information.

Having found relevant materials and included them in further discussion correct citation is essential to be able to refer other researchers to those specific sources.

Tip: A useful overview of the issues involved in legal research and legal information literacy can be found in Teaching legal research http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/resources/tlr/index.html written by Dr Peter Clinch, Information Specialist for Law at Cardiff University and published by the UK Centre for Legal Education (UKCLE). A PDF version is freely available. It is aimed particularly at tutors and librarians teaching undergraduates and postgraduates how to research law. Another work by Dr Peter Clinch, which your library should hold, gives a perspective on legal research for students - Clinch, Peter Using a law library: a student's guide to legal research skills. 2nd ed. London : Blackstone Press, 2001.