ABSTRACT
A INTRODUCTION TO STATUTES 83
B HOW TO FIND STATUTES 83
1 Using background materials 83
2 Using cases to find statutes 86
3 Using digests to find statutes 86
4 Using other indexes to find statutes 87
C HOW TO FIND RECENT OR PENDING LEGISLATION 87
D HOW TO DISCOVER IF THE STATUTE IS IN FORCE 88
E HOW TO FIND OUT-OF-DATE STATUTES 88
F HOW TO READ STATUTES 91
G THE IMPORTANCE OF CASES WHICH INTERPRET STATUTES 93
H USING ‘WORDS AND PHRASES’ TO INTERPRET STATUTES 96
Chapter 6
I THE USE OF HANSARD TO INTERPRET STATUTES 96
J INTRODUCTION TO STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 96
1 How to find statutory instrument 96
2 How to read and understand statutory instruments 97
3 How to find recent statutory instruments 97
K PROCEDURAL RULES 98
1 Civil procedure 98
2 Criminal procedure 99
When your legal research problem may include consideration of statutory law it is vitally important to look at that law first before moving straight onto the caselaw which interprets or applies it. There are several publications which reproduce complete statutes, with brief commentary and explanation underneath. The two most useful are Halsbury’s Statutes (Butterworths) (see pages 84-85), organised in volumes according to subject matter and Current Law Statutes Annotated (Sweet & Maxwell), organised in volumes according to the year of the statute.
