Westlaw UK Training Outline & Examples What’s Westlaw? It’s an online user interface connected large no legal databases behind the scenes. Results retrieved are fully cross referenced & interlinked so you can view everything one source. You have access to really great analysis docs which have done a lot of the research for you, so you can access all your information in one source.
Welcome Page Basic Searching /Cross database search Search for Case law, Legislation, Journal articles, Current Awareness & EU or link to Enter terms into search box select databases or do content specific searches using the toolbar. Navigation tools Link Tool Bar – thin blue toolbar at the top Content Navigation Bar – the different tabs at the top WLUK Icon - homepage button Cases Screen Cases date back to 1220 so you have very comprehensive coverage. Screen spilt in to two: Top half - search results using search template Lower half - search for results by browsing down to an individual document
Cases Basic Search Citation:
2000 1 ac 524
Results are retrieved in reverse chronological order with the most recent result at the top. - indicating some form of positive or neutral judicial consideration. This icon recommends that this is a good case to use. From the results page you can link into either the full text case report or the case analysis document Case Analysis document Case Digest This section gives you a summary and an abstract of the case. Also includes information on the judges, council and solicitor firm for the case.
Appellate History & Status Shows you the appeal history of the case along with any appeals that may have been filled in higher courts Related Cases This section will list any other cases between the same parties on different points of law Significant cases Cited Shows details of the significant cases cited within the judgment All Cases Cited Lists every case cited within the judgment. Key Cases Citing Our editors have picked out the key cases which have cited this case All Cases Citing Shows a list of all cases citing the case you are viewing. Significant Legislation Our editors have picked out the key legislation which has been cited this case Legislation Cited This section contains a list of all legislation citied in the case. Also includes EU legislation but does not include treaties. Journal Articles Lists ALL journal articles about this case including the ones in full text and abstracts. Books This section will have links to citing paragraphs from our practitioner texts such as Palmers or Chitty. Tabular Format View analysis doc as one long document or view tabular format Case History Graphical View This diagram shows you the appeal history of the case. It helps to understand complex histories. The green box indicates the case you are currently viewing.
Other Status icons Party Name:
Pepper v Hart
- indicating mixed or mildly negative judicial consideration. The case is still good law but needs some interrogation - indicating if a case has been overruled BY A SUBSEQUENT CASE or reversed by a higher court
Advanced Search To view more search fields, use the advanced search link. This contains search boxes like Subject/keyword, Legislation Title, Court and Date. The subject/keyword search box is ideal when looking for cases by topic or subject area. The quotation marks enable you to search for a term or a phrase. Subject/ Keyword
“Clinical Negligence” “Civil Procedure”
Use search within results to narrow down and locate the case you are looking for Search within results
Pregnancy
Legislation Screen Legislation dates back to 1267 so you have very comprehensive coverage. You can search statutes/ acts of parliament or statutory instruments Westlaw legislation is fully amended and consolidated legislation. So it shows you the law as it stands today. Also provides helpful analysis documents relating to individual sections and the act as a whole Screen spilt in to two: Search at the top or browse at the bottom
Statutory definition Statutory definition returns all legislation that has defined the term outer space Statutory definition
Outer Space
Basic Searching Search by title
Welfare Reform Act 2007
Results list whole pieces of legislation and statutory instruments.
Linking to the Welfare Reform Act 2007 takes you to the Arrangement of Act or Table of Contents for the act. The Arrangement of Act provides: links to sections of the act, a PDF of the entire act and icons at section level. Icons Not in Force ‐ S 37 In Force ‐ S 36 Partially In Force – S 40 Repealed ‐ P 20 Superseded Amendments Pending ‐ S 12 Section 12 ‐ Consolidated text The current version in force is identified by the in force icon. The text is fully consolidated. The version in force date is the date that this consolidated version came into force. This is not the commencement date. Viewing Historic and Prospective versions View prospective law using the forward arrow on the versioning tool (version 1 of 2) .This will take you into version 2 of 2. Prospective law is indicated with the prospective law icon. If there is an in force date for pending amendments it will be shown, if not it will say “date to be appointed”. View historic law using the backward arrow on the versioning tool. Legislation Analysis Provides links to important information regarding the section you are looking at. Commencement date – gives the date the section entered into force.
Annotated Statutes This symbol in your search results indicates that legislation has been annotated. Annotations will link to concepts located in the General Notes Library. Search by title only
Counter Terrorism Act 2008, S 1
Pepper v Hart Notes The Pepper v Hart case allowed reference to Hansard (parliamentary debate transcript) to clarify the meaning of legislation. A Pepper and Hart note on Westlaw UK gives the relevant extract from Hansard with a link to Hansard on the parliament website.
Questions and Answers Questions and answers are helpful for new legislation untested in courts and legislation with linguistic anomalies as they clarify ambiguity.
Journals Westlaw UK contains journals dating back to 1986. There are around 1000 journals abstracted from the Legal Journals Index and around 100 full text journals. The screen is split in two: the top half of the screen has a search template and the lower half of the screen allows you to browse journals.
Browsing Criminal Law Review > 2007 > by Article title or issue > Issue Dec: Familial homicide, failure to protect and domestic violence: who's the victim? Crim. L.R.2007, Dec, 923‐933 Abstract Click on the citation to access the abstract article Full Text Article Link to article abstract using “the left side of the screen documents on Westlaw UK” Star paging Relates to the page number in the hard copy journal Footnotes Click on the numbers in the text and the footnote appears alongside the text. Recent dropdown Lists all recent searches you have carried out with red links to click back to a previous search result.
Advanced Search The screen is smaller and search techniques apply. Cases cited (party)
Donoghue v Stevenson
Some results only have an abstract with no full text on Westlaw UK.
Current Awareness Current Awareness contains abstracts for cases, legislation and legal developments from official publications, press releases and legal news. It’s updated every 15 minutes so it’s a great place to check that you are up to date with the latest law. There are two options for searching; the last 90 days or an Archive.
EU The EU documents are provided by Ellis and Euro‐Lex; the official database of the EU.
Advanced Search EU Legislation checkbox ticked Parties or Title: Document type:
“Working time” Directive
There are 7 Working Time Directive results. The most recent directive is at the top of the list. The top result replaces the initial working time directive at the bottom of the list. You will see entry icon if it has been superseded by a newer version
the no
The blue menu on the left‐hand side includes links to navigate to specific parts of the document including implementing national measures. National Measures It shows national implementation for directives or regulations. Implementation (transposition) deadlines are included in the Bibliographic references section of the legislation. Table of Authorities This lists all the legislation, treaties and other acts that mention this directive. This means you get the full picture of the Act ‐ like related information in the Legislation Analysis document for UK legislation. All related documents Lists cases and legislation citing this directive and preparatory acts (drafts of this directive). Browsing EU Materials The lower half of the screen is for browsing EU cases, legislation, treaties, and preparatory acts and information and notices.
Books Westlaw UK Books include a range of leading practitioner titles online. All books are up to date and contains live links to Cases, Legislation and Journals on Westlaw UK.