legal writing skills

What are the 2 databases that a university can utilise?

• Butterworth and SAFLI

• Constitutional law reports and South African Law reports

• LexisNexis and JUTA

What is legal research

• The examination of social policies to evaluate their effectiveness in the legal system

• The process of studying historical legal cases to understand their impact on modern law.

• The collection of statistical data to predict future legal trends.

• Legal research is defined as the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making

Who does legal research?

• Doctors

• Engineers

• Lawyers

• Artists

Why is legal research important?

• To diagnose medical conditions

• To build architectural structures

• To find “good” case law that backs up your motion or brief 

Which ones are primary sources of law

• textbook

• Journal articles

• Case law

• References tools

What type of legal system does South Africa use

• Codified

• Uncodified

Name 4 functions of law

Where can a case be heard?

• Constitutional court

• Land claims court

• High court

• Appellate division

• All of the above

How are Acts cited?

• Stating the first 3 words of the act

• Using the case number

• Using the name of the court it was heard in

• Short title of the Act,Act number then the year that the act was published