CILEx L3 Legal Skills & Research 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the correct citation format for a case reported in the All England Law Reports?
- [Year] Volume All ER Page, e.g. [2005] 2 All ER 450 (Correct answer)
- (Year) All ER Page
- All ER [Year] Volume Page
- [Year] All ER (Volume) Page
Correct answer: [Year] Volume All ER Page, e.g. [2005] 2 All ER 450
The All England Law Reports use square brackets for the year when the year is essential to find the volume, followed by the volume number, 'All ER', and the page number (e.g., [2005] 2 All ER 450).
Question 2: What does 'BAILII' stand for and what is its significance for legal research?
- British and Irish Legal Information Institute — a free online database of UK and Irish case law and legislation (Correct answer)
- British Association of Independent Legal Information — a subscription legal database
- British Academic Institute of Law and Information — a university research tool
- Bar and Inn Legal Information Institute — a database for barristers
Correct answer: British and Irish Legal Information Institute — a free online database of UK and Irish case law and legislation
BAILII (British and Irish Legal Information Institute) is a free, publicly accessible online database providing access to UK and Irish case law, legislation, and other legal materials — an essential free resource for legal research.
Question 3: What is 'Westlaw UK' used for in legal research?
- A comprehensive subscription database for finding cases, legislation, journals, and legal analysis (Correct answer)
- A free government database of Acts of Parliament
- A database of academic law journal articles only
- A searchable archive of Law Commission reports
Correct answer: A comprehensive subscription database for finding cases, legislation, journals, and legal analysis
Westlaw UK is a leading subscription-based legal research database providing access to case law (including unreported cases), legislation, legal journals, practitioner texts, and current awareness materials.
Question 4: What is the 'neutral citation' system for cases?
- A standardised citation system introduced in 2001 identifying cases by court, year, and number, not requiring a law report to cite (Correct answer)
- A citation system used only by academics
- A citation used for cases from neutral or international courts
- A way of citing cases without identifying the parties
Correct answer: A standardised citation system introduced in 2001 identifying cases by court, year, and number, not requiring a law report to cite
The neutral citation system (Practice Direction [2001] 1 All ER 193) was introduced for judgments handed down from January 2001. Each judgment is given a unique identifier by the court (e.g., [2022] UKSC 15), enabling citation without reference to a printed law report.
Question 5: What is 'primary' legal material?
- The original sources of law themselves, including Acts of Parliament, statutory instruments, and case law (Correct answer)
- Textbooks written by leading academics
- Commentary and analysis of the law
- Government consultation papers and Law Commission reports
Correct answer: The original sources of law themselves, including Acts of Parliament, statutory instruments, and case law
Primary legal materials are the original sources of law — statutes, statutory instruments, case law (law reports and judgments), and EU law. Secondary (or secondary) materials include textbooks, journal articles, and legal encyclopaedias that analyse the primary sources.
Question 6: What is the purpose of 'Halsbury's Laws of England'?
- A comprehensive encyclopaedia providing a statement of English law across all areas, kept up to date by cumulative supplements (Correct answer)
- A collection of all reported cases in England and Wales
- A complete set of all Acts of Parliament
- A directory of legal practitioners in England and Wales
Correct answer: A comprehensive encyclopaedia providing a statement of English law across all areas, kept up to date by cumulative supplements
Halsbury's Laws of England is the leading comprehensive legal encyclopaedia, providing systematic statements of English law across all subjects. It is updated by annual cumulative supplements and is available online via LexisNexis.
CILEx L3 Legal Skills & Research 1
What is the correct citation format for a case reported in the All England Law Reports?