1. Welcome to C J Koh Law Library
Library Orientation for GCIA students
Presented by Carol Wee
Prepared by Bissy Ithack
10th January 2014

2. Outline C J Koh Law Library- History, Collection, & Services.
NUS Library portal- Library Catalogue (FindMore/LINC), Searching Books & Journal Articles
Sources of Law- Singapore & UK
LawNet Database
Abbreviations & Citations
CJ Koh Law Library Home Page-
Legal resources on web

3. Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library
Chinese Library
C J Koh Law Library
NUS Libraries
Central Library
Medical Library
Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library
Science Library
Music Library

4. C J Koh Law Library History
The library was originally established in September 1957, catering primarily to the Faculty of Law at the Bukit Timah Campus.
In April 1980, the Law Library moved to new premises at Kent Ridge, occupying two floors of the Faculty of Law building.

5. C J Koh Law Library
On 1st January 2001, the Law Library was renamed the C J Koh Law Library, in appreciation of Mr Koh Choon Joo’s generous donations to the library. After extensive renovations which began in July 2000, the library celebrated its official opening by the Honourable Chief Justice Yong Pung How on 27 February 2002.
Following the Government's announcement to reallocate Bukit Timah Campus to NUS on 28 May 2005, the Law Library made its historic return to its first home in August 2006.

6. C J Koh Law Library - Collection
C J Koh Law Library has a rich collection of local and international legal resources.
1st Storey-
RBR, Hold Shelf & Theses at Loan Counter
Legislation/Law Reports, Singapore Malaysia Collection, Current Periodicals.
2nd Storey-
Bound Journals.
3rd Storey-
Books, ASEAN collection, Chinese collection.

7. Services RBR (Reserve book readings) can be borrowed for 2 hours Loans
RBR & Holdshelf books – Please request at Loan Counter (level- 1)
Loan entitlement : 20 books
Photocopy services
Photocopiers are available at Library. Use Cash card/ EZ link card(3¢ per page) to pay.

8. NUS Library Portal http://libportal.nus.edu.sg/frontend/index

9. FindMore
This new search engine allows discovery of the library’s online and print collections in a single search.
Search by author, title or keyword
Refine your search to “items in the library catalogue”

10. Library Integrated Catalogue LINC
Select LINC tab and search by specific fields like title, author, keyword, subject or call number.

11. Searching LINC Search by specific field- Title Author Keyword Subject
ISBN
E.g.: Redfern and Hunter on international arbitration /by Nigel Blackaby…[et al.]. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

12. Searching Journal articles
Search by Journal title in FindMore/ LINC

13. Primary sources of Law
Primary sources of law are authoritative records of law made by the law-making bodies of Singapore.
The 2 main sources of law are:
Legislation
Statutes
Subsidiary legislation
Quasi-legislation.
2. Case Law
Decisions of the Singapore courts.

14. Singapore Legislation
Introduction
The 2 main sources of legislation in Singapore today:
I. Statutes of the Republic
of Singapore
(primary legislation)
Ref: K
II. Subsidiary Legislation of
the Republic of Singapore (secondary legislation)
Ref: K

15. Singapore Legislation
Legislative Process
The Legislature, the law-making body in Singapore, comprises
the President
the Parliament of Singapore.
Statutes begin life as Bills which are drafted by legal officers in the Attorney-General's Chambers.
A Bill becomes law when it is
passed by Parliament and
assented to by the President.
An Act comes into force on a date determined by the Minister and notified by a Commencement Notification in the Government Gazette.

16. UK Legislation Introduction
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of 4 countries forming 3 distinct jurisdictions, being England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Since 1999, Scotland and Northern Ireland have had legislative bodies capable of producing primary legislation for those regions. In Wales, the powers of the National Assembly are limited to producing only secondary legislation.
© Travelonline.com

17. UK Legislation The 2 main sources of UK legislation are:
Acts of Parliament (primary legislation)
a. Public General Acts
b. Local and Personal Acts
II. Statutory Instruments (secondary legislation).

18. UK Legislation Where to Find It
There are several sources of full text Acts of Parliament.
However, it is important to distinguish between sources which
give the law as it currently stands (sources which incorporate repeals or amendments made since the Act was passed e.g. Halsbury’s Statutes) and
sources which give the text of the statute as it was originally published (e.g. Queen Printer’s copy)

19. UK Legislation Where to Find It UK Statutes and Statutory Instruments
(Legislation & Law Reports collection, Level 1)

20. Law Reports of Singapore
Law reports are the published judgments of court cases. Cases are only selected for reporting if they raise or expand upon significant points of law.
Therefore, only a small proportion of cases are reported, and these are mainly from the Supreme Court (i.e. High Court, Court of Appeal and Constitutional Tribunal).

21. Law Reports of Singapore
A. Singapore Law Reports
The principle law report series in Singapore is the Singapore Law Reports. It covers cases from 1965.
Ref: K7599 SLR

22. Law Reports of Singapore
B. Singapore Law Reports (Reissue)
The Academy of Law has re-issued the Singapore Law Reports from 1965 through 2009 with re-written headnotes for the reports from 1965 to 2002, and re-edited judgment texts that conform to the SAL house-style. This set of reports is called the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue).
Both the original SLR volumes from 1965 to 2002, and the Reissue are equally authoritative as each judgment reported in both remains in substance, though not in form, the same.
Ref: K7599 SLR

23. Law Reports of Singapore
C. Malayan Law Journal
The other law report series which is the major source of reported Singapore court decisions from is the Malayan Law Journal.
Ref: K7599 MLJ

24. The Case Citation What is it?
A case citation is a reference to a legal case in the law reports.
It generally includes the
names of the parties to the case
year the decision of the court was delivered
or published
volume number of the law report
abbreviation of the law report series
first page at which the case is reported.
Example
Anwar Siraj and Another v Ting Kang Chung John [2010] 1 SLR 1026

25. The Case Citation Neutral Citation
The neutral citation system is defined in s.63(8) of the Supreme Court Practice Directions as follows:
“A neutral citation is a Court-approved system of citation which is independent of the series of law reports or other publication, and unique to each written judgment. Each written judgment from a particular level of Court is assigned a sequential number, starting from 1 at the beginning of each calendar year.”
A similar definition can be found in s.53(1) of The Subordinate Courts Practice Directions (2006 Ed.)

26. The Case Citation Neutral Citation
The neutral citation includes the following
Names of the parties to the case
Year of the decision
Jurisdiction/ Level of court
Sequential number
Paragraph number (s)
Example: Public Prosecutor v Nguyen Tuong Van [2004] SGHC 54, [1]

27. Law Reports of UK A. Modern Reports
The Law Reports (1865- )
The official set of law reports published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales
Text of each report is reviewed by judges before publication
So, it takes between 10 and 14 months to report cases
The only set of reports that has a summary of the arguments of counsel
The High Court and the Court of Appeal require that where a case has been reported in the Law Reports, it must be cited from that source. Other series may only be used when a case is not reported in the Law Reports. See Practice Direction (Judgments: Form Citation) (Supreme Court) [2001] 1 WLR 194.

28. Law Reports of UK Modern Reports Title Reports Decisions of Ref
The Law Reports (1865- ) (contd.)
The 4 current series of the Law Reports are:
Title
Reports Decisions of
Ref
Appeal Cases
(AC)
House of Lords, Privy Council &
Court of Justice of the European
Communities
K2022 4C
Queen’s Bench
(QB)
Queen’s Bench & Court of Appeal & ECJ on appeal from QB
K2022 2E
Family (Fam)
Family Division & Court of Appeal on appeal from Fam D
K2022 1C
Chancery
(Ch)
Chancery Division & Court of Appeal on appeal from Ch D
K2022 3B

29. Law Reports of UK 2. The Weekly Law Reports (WLR) (1953- )
Modern Reports
2. The Weekly Law Reports (WLR) (1953- )
Timely, full text reports.
Ref: K2020 WNR
3. All England Law Reports (All ER) (1936- )
Timely, full text reports; contains editorial notes.
Ref: K2020 AELR

30. Law Reports of UK Modern Reports
4. Specialist series
Contain a selection of cases in a discrete practice area.
e.g. Lloyds Law Reports (maritime and commercial law)
Ref: K2020 LLLR
5. Newspapers
Brief, edited reports.
e.g. The Times Law Reports
Ref: K2020 TR/ K2020 TLR

31. Law Databases via Faculty website
Law Databases- Other law databases are listed under Resources on the Faculty of Law website:
Case Track
Lawnet
Westlaw

32. LawNet

33. LawNet Searching Legislation
Example : Arbitration Act (Cap. 10), International Arbitration Act (Cap.143 A)

34. Lawnet Cases

35. LawNet Searching articles
Jeffrey Pinsler, “Is Discovery Available Prior to the Commencement of Arbitration Proceedings?” [2005] SJLS. 64

36. Abbreviations & Citations
Journal articles Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362. David Feldman, “The Nature of Legal Scholarship” (1989) 52 Mod.L.Rev. 498.
Find out what journal the abbreviation stands for
Search for the journal title in LINC/LINC+

37. Abbreviations & Citations
Cases
Siang Hoa Goldsmith Pte Ltd v The Wing On Fire & Marine Insurance Co Ltd [1998] 2 SLR 777
Singapore Law reports

38. Abbreviations & Citations
1. Print Index:
Donald Raistrick, Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations, 3rd ed. (London: Bowker-Saur, 2008).
Location: KB280 Rai 2008 (LW RBR; LW Reference Office; LW Reference1)
2. Online: Law Reference Desk
Librarian’s pick - Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations

39. Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations

40. Legal Resources on the Web
C J Koh Law Library Homepage
Legal Resources on the Web

41. Baili British and Irish Legal Information Institute

42. If you have any queries, email cjkohlib@nus.edu.sg
Thank you
If you have any queries, or
speak to a librarian at C J Koh Law Library Information Desk: