This document provides instructions for accessing legal resources for a business law course. It outlines how to locate Singapore and UK case law using LawNet and Singapore legislation using Singapore Statutes Online. It discusses what case law and legislation are, how they are cited, and exercises for finding specific cases and legislation. Key terms explained include neutral citations, reported case citations, and the difference between Acts and subsidiary legislation in Singapore. Contact details for the library are provided.

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Accessing Reliable Legal Resources
for LGST101 Business Law
Elizabeth Naumczyk, Head of Law Library
Chai Yee Xin, Law Librarian
2017

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You will learn how to locate…
• Singapore Case Law using LawNet
• UK Case Law using LawNet
• Singapore Legislation using Singapore
Statutes Online

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Table of Cases

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Case Law
What is Case Law?
Written record of the courts’ decisions

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Supreme Court
Court of Appeal
High Court
Family Justice Courts
Family Division of the High Court
Family Courts Youth CourtsState Courts
District Courts Magistrates’ Courts Coroner’s Courts Small Claims Tribunal

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Case Name
Consists of the names of the parties involved
Civil Case
Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd.
Criminal Case
Public Prosecutor v PDM International Pte Ltd
The case name alone is often not enough. There is no indication of
the date, where it was reported, or which case in particular is being
referred to (there may be more than one case)

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Reported Case Citations
The citation tells us that the case may be found
in vol 2 of the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue)
for 2004, starting on page 594.
Year Reporter PgVolume
[2004] 2 SLR (R) 594

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Exercise 1 – SG Case
Chwee Kin Keong and others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd
[2004] 2 SLR(R) 594

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LawNet – by party’s name

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LawNet – by party’s name

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LawNet – by citation

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LawNet – by citation

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LawNet – view case

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Neutral Citations
Gay Choon Ing v Loh Sze Ti Terence Peter
[2009] SGCA 3

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Neutral Citations
[2005] SGCA 3
Year of decision Court Sequential Number
The citation above tells us that this was the
2nd case in 2005 in the Singapore Court of Appeal.
Singapore Neutral Citations:
SGCA – Court of appeal
SGDC – District Court
SGFC – Family Court
SGHC – High Court
SGJC – Juvenile Court
SGMC – Magistrates Court
SGSC – Supreme Court
SGSCT – Small Claims
TribunalThis is a system of citation where each written
judgment from a particular level of court is assigned
a sequential number, starting from 1 at the
beginning of each calendar year.

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Exercise 2 – SG Case
Gay Choon Ing v Loh Sze Ti Terence Peter
[2009] SGCA 3

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LawNet – by party’s name

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LawNet – by party’s name

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LawNet – verify

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LawNet – by citation

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LawNet – by citation

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English Cases
Page v Smith
[1996] 1 A.C. 155

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The Law Reports
List of Titles in the Law Reports series
The Law Reports are published by The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England & Wales

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• To find out what the legal abbreviations stand
for you can also use the following website:
http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/

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CARDIFF INDEX TO LEGAL ABBREVIATIONS

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Exercise 3 – English Case
Page v Smith
[1996] 1 A.C. 155

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LawNet – by party’s name

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LawNet - verify

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LawNet – by citation

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LawNet – missed punctuation

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LawNet – by citation

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CITATION ROUND AND SQUARE BRACKETS
• NB Difference between round and square brackets
• Round brackets
– (1992) 175 CLR 1
– (1992) 176 CLR xx
• Square brackets
– [1996] 1 A.C. 155
– [1996] 2 A.C. xx
– [1997] 1 A.C. xx
– [1997] 2 A.C. xx

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Legislation
Singapore Legislation

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Table of Singapore Legislation

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Singapore Laws
• Statutes /Acts
– Over 500 statutes/acts listed under “current acts” in LawNet
– Each Act is given it’s own chapter number. (‘cap’ for short)
• E.g. Companies Act, Cap 50
• Subsidiary Legislation
– While Acts deal with broad legal principles, Subsidiary Legislation
deals with details such as procedures, admin matters, technical
standards, etc.
• E.g. Companies (Application of Bankruptcy Act Provisions) Regulations,
Cap 50, Section 411

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Locating Singapore Legislation
• Available through LawNet
• Available on Singapore Statutes Online
through Attorney-General’s Chambers website
(http://statutes.agc.gov.sg)

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Exercise 4 – SG Legislation
Sale of Food (Food Establishments) Regulations Cap
283, Regulation 5
Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act (Cap 53B)

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SG Legislation through AGC website

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SG Legislation through AGC website

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Viewing the Act

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Viewing the versions

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Contact Library
library@smu.edu.sg
Phone: 6828 0355