Legal Skills (9th Edn) PDF - Books, Journals, and Official Publications

8. Books, journals, and official publications Legal Skills (9th edn) Emily Finch and Stefan Fafinski p. 173 8. Books, journals, and official publications Emily Finch, and Stefan Fafinski https://doi.org/10.1093/he/97801928730...

8. Books, journals, and official publications Legal Skills (9th edn) Emily Finch and Stefan Fafinski p. 173 8. Books, journals, and official publications Emily Finch, and Stefan Fafinski https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780192873088.003.0008 Published in print: 14 July 2023 Published online: August 2023 Abstract This chapter describes the role of books (student textbooks, cases and materials books, monographs, practitioners’ books, legal encyclopedias and digests, dictionaries, revision guides), journals (general journals, specialist journals, practitioner journals, foreign journals), and official publications (Command Papers, Bills, Parliamentary papers, Parliamentary debates, Law Commission reports) amongst the secondary sources which may be encountered during legal studies. Keywords: law books, law journals, official publications, secondary sources, command papers, Bills, Law Commission, Hansard Introduction The earlier chapters in this part of the book have explored the primary domestic and European sources of law. As you will have seen, these sources derive either from legislation (an Act of Parliament, statutory instrument, EU treaty article, regulation, or directive) or from cases decided before the courts (common law, equity, or decision of the ECtHR or CJEU). However, in addition to these sources, there is a wide range of secondary sources of law. This chapter will complete your appreciation of the spectrum of legal sources by describing the role of books, journals, and official publications amongst the secondary sources that you might encounter during your legal studies. Without a good grasp of secondary sources of law you will miss out on an entire range of legal knowledge and comment. Speaking more pragmatically, you will have to engage with secondary sources if you want to achieve higher marks: secondary sources are a vital resource for a fully rounded legal knowledge and will give you the means to start critically analysing the law as well as just reading and describing it. Successful Page 1 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications written work will require you to demonstrate understanding, analysis, and synthesis skills as well as merely demonstrating simple knowledge of a particular area of law: an appreciation of the range of sources which will help you to develop and demonstrate these skills is therefore essential. Learning outcomes After studying this chapter, you will be able to: Distinguish between textbooks, monographs, and practitioners’ books Understand the role of legal encyclopedias and digests Appreciate the distinction between standard dictionaries, legal dictionaries, and specialist dictionaries Choose and use revision guides appropriately Understand the use of journals as important sources of information Describe the origins and sources of various official publications Express an awareness of newspapers, other reports, websites, and ‘soft law’ as other potential sources of law p. 174 8.1 Books 8.1.1 Student textbooks Student textbooks collect together, analyse, and criticize the law in particular areas. They traditionally deal with an individual area of legal study. There is a wide range of textbooks within each of the core subject areas: Constitutional and administrative law (or public law) Contract law Criminal law EU law Equity and trusts Land law (or property law) Tort law. There are also textbooks in the popular optional subject areas such as family law, medical law, employment law, intellectual property law, and company law. Page 2 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications There are usually several textbooks available for each topic. You should be given guidance as to the preferred textbook for each of your modules. However, textbooks are written in different styles and have widely varying degrees of difficulty. If you find that you are not getting on with your set text, you should ask your course leader whether there is a different text that might suit you better. For instance, if you find the set text hard to follow, then you might need a more basic book to give you a lower-level grounding in the material before building upon that with the set text. Equally, if you are fortunate enough to think that your textbook is too simple, then a higher-level text will allow you to deepen your understanding and build upon your skills of analysis and critical evaluation. Textbooks do not generally carry any great legal authority although some established texts are occasionally cited in court. These include Smith & Hogan: Criminal Law, Winfield and Jolowicz on Tort, Megarry & Wade: The Law of Real Property, and Treitel: The Law of Contract. It is for this reason that textbooks—except perhaps for very few key authoritative works—should not be quoted as sources in coursework. They are useful as an introduction to topic areas or as a means of clarifying particular points, but you must use primary sources (and more authoritative secondary sources where appropriate) if you want to gain enough depth and understanding of the law to ensure success in your written work. Student textbooks undergo frequent revision to ensure that they stay current and relevant. You should always make sure that you are using the most recent edition of your particular textbook. For that reason, buying second-hand textbooks in student shops or online should be done with care, as you would not want to be working from a book which did not cover or explain more recent developments—unless you wanted to use one to research the state of the law at a particular point in time for some sort of comparative exercise. Generally speaking, though, if you use an old textbook, you run the risk of doing out-of-date legal research. Even newly published books can be out of date as there is a lapse of time (usually a few months) between submitting the manuscript to the publisher and publication. We submit a whole collection of Word documents and marked-up figures, but the production process involves copy-editing, typesetting, proofreading, indexing, and printing (as well as other things publishers do behind the scenes). For example, at the time of writing this edition, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is not p. 175 law, but might well be by the time of publication ↵ or by the time any future edition comes around. Therefore, you must always supplement your reading with online research to look out for any contemporary developments during the text’s lifetime. 8.1.2 Cases and materials books Cases and materials books contain a collection of key cases, statutes, reports, articles, and book extracts arranged by topic area within a subject. These are sometimes stand-alone publications, although an increasing number of textbooks have accompanying books of cases and materials. These are an extremely useful way of gathering all the supplementary materials you need to support your studies. As with textbooks, they should be used with caution since they contain only extracts from the materials and those materials that the editor has considered appropriate. They are not a substitute for finding and reading the original and complete statutes, cases, and articles. Therefore, whilst very valuable as a starting point for research, a reliance upon cases and materials books alone can lead to lazy or unthinking research and, at worst, a blinkered view of the subject area. You must, of course, refer to the Page 3 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications primary source materials in your assessed work and not to the cases and materials book in which they have been consolidated. Also remember that you will want your written work to stand out—if everyone in your module has the same cases and materials book, you will need to find something (relevant) outside of that to show off your research skills properly. 8.1.3 Monographs Monographs are a detailed written study of a single specialized topic. They are usually more expensive than student textbooks and cover narrower subject areas in much greater depth (often considerably greater than that required for a first degree in law). For example, whilst you might think that your set criminal law textbook goes into more than enough detail, there are many books which take particular topics and analyse them in very fine detail, such as: B Krebs (ed), Accessorial Liability after ‘Jogee’ (Hart 2020) D Ormerod and DH Williams, Smith’s Law of Theft (9th edn, OUP 2007) I Kugler, Direct and Oblique Intention in the Criminal Law (Routledge 2003) E O’Moore, Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person: Law and Practice (Clarus Press 2017) When you consider that many of these books are similar in size to an introductory-level student textbook designed to cover the whole of the criminal law, you should begin to appreciate the distinction between textbooks and monographs. The level and academic rigour of these books makes them entirely appropriate resources to use in your assessed work. Remember though that they are usually published as ‘one offs’ so they will only present the law as it was around the time of publication. 8.1.4 Practitioners’ books As distinct from textbooks, which are usually written by law lecturers for student use, practitioners’ books are usually written by practising lawyers for practising lawyers (although some practitioners write student texts and academics sometimes write for the practitioner market). These are primarily reference works, are always comprehensive, and often span multiple volumes. As a result, new editions appear much less p. 176 frequently than for student ↵ textbooks and updates may be issued in the form of cumulative supplements or online. Such works include: Chitty on Contracts Clerk and Lindsell on Torts De Smith’s Judicial Review Palmer’s Company Law Woodfall: Landlord and Tenant Emmet & Farrand on Title Kemp & Kemp Personal Injury Law, Practice and Procedure Page 4 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications They are also generally very expensive—the titles listed above range in price from around £200 to over £850. However, some of these (including Chitty and Clerk and Lindsell) are available online within Westlaw Books. These can be a useful pointer to primary sources and commentary for use in your assessments. 8.1.5 Legal encyclopedias and digests There are various legal encyclopedias and digests which are extremely useful research tools. 8.1.5.1 Halsbury’s Laws of England Halsbury’s Laws of England aims to provide a complete statement of English law, derived from all sources. As you can imagine, this is a massive work. It comprises sixty volumes in several parts. Using Halsbury in the library is quite an involved process. Should you wish to do so, then you should consult the law librarian at your institution. However, the various elements of Halsbury are much easier to use in their online form available via Lexis+ UK. 8.1.5.2 Halsbury’s Statutes of England and Wales Halsbury’s Statutes of England and Wales aims to provide current versions of all Public General Acts in force in England and Wales. As with Halsbury’s Laws of England these are arranged by subject area. Each Act is fully annotated to provide precise information relating to Parliamentary debates, amendments and repeals, derivation notes in the case of consolidating legislation, commencement, cross-references to other provisions of the Act and to other relevant provisions in Halsbury’s Statutes, cases, subordinate legislation, and references to words specifically defined in the Act. 8.1.5.3 Halsbury’s Statutory Instruments Halsbury’s Statutory Instruments provides current information on all statutory instruments of general application to the whole of England and Wales which are in force. Once again, these are arranged by topic. 8.1.5.4 The Digest The Digest provides, in digested form, the whole case law of England and Wales, together with a considerable body of cases from the courts of Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries of the Commonwealth. The case digests are printed with annotations listing the subsequent p. 177 cases in which judicial opinions have been expressed in the ↵ English courts. The Digest contains summaries of hundreds of thousands of cases drawn from over a thousand different series of law reports. 8.1.5.5 Current Law Current Law is published in several parts: Page 5 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025 8. Books, journals, and official publications Current Law Yearbook Current Law Statutes Annotated Current Law Case Citator 1947–76, 1977–88, and 1989–2002 Current Law Statute Citator 1947–71 Current Law Legislation Citator 1972–88, 1989–2002 Its component parts provide access to both legislation and case law along with commentary. 8.1.6 Dictionaries 8.1.6.1 Conventional and legal dictionaries The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is the conventional dictionary which is most frequently cited in court, 1 followed by the Oxford English Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary is also available online. This is not a publicly available resource, but many universities will have online access either directly or through a library portal. As well as conventional dictionaries, there is a range of legal dictionaries available. If your course does not recommend a particular dictionary, it is a good idea to browse a few in the bookshop or the library. Legal dictionaries are very useful as a quick means of checking whether a word has a specific legal meaning as well as an everyday meaning. They can also be used when you encounter an unfamiliar term—which is likely, particularly if it is in Latin or Law French. Examples of legal dictionaries include: J Law (ed), A Dictionary of Law (10th edn, OUP 2022) M Woodley (ed), Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary (12th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2013) Finally, there is also a range of specialist dictionaries which cover definitions that are restricted to certain topics including employment law, company law, and commercial law. These will possibly be too detailed for the purposes of your course of study; therefore, one of the general legal dictionaries will probably be the more appropriate resource. 8.1.6.2 Judicial dictionaries Judicial dictionaries contain details of the ways in which judges have interpreted particular words or phrases as well as definitions contained in statute. They are very expensive, so are best used as a library resource or online, for example via Westlaw’s Index of Legal Terms. Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law is the only truly authoritative dictionary of English law, defining every legal term used, both old and new—from ‘abandonment’, in its many different contexts, to ‘zoonoses’. It provides clarity on the meaning of words, when drafting, interpreting, and understanding legal materials or for any other form of legal research. Page 6 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications Stroud’s Judicial Dictionary of Words and Phrases includes definitions from English, Scottish, and p. 178 Commonwealth sources. Judicial interpretations of words and phrases used in statutes ↵ which have been repealed or amended have been retained. It comprises six volumes and is updated annually. Words and Phrases Legally Defined is similar to Stroud’s Judicial Dictionary and is also updated via annual cumulative supplements. Finally, Halsbury’s Laws of England may also be used to find definitions of words and phrases via the index to the main volumes. 8.1.7 Revision guides Many students rely upon revision guides as a safety net. Revision guides do exactly what their name suggests—they are guides to revision. They are not a substitute for attendance at lectures and tutorials. Moreover, they do not provide an excuse not to read and follow your own course materials, textbooks, and primary sources and should not cut down on the amount of reading and thinking that you have to do. If you compare the size of most revision guides to that of your recommended textbook, it follows that a revision guide could never be expected to cover the subject in the depth required to succeed in coursework or examinations. However, they can serve a useful purpose in providing a concise overview of the key areas for revision—reminding you of the headline points to enable you to focus your revision and identify the key points you need to know. Some students also like to use revision guides at the start of a module to gain a quick overview of the subject. Even though we have written a few, never use them as sources in your coursework. 8.2 Journals Journals are also referred to as periodicals. Journals are an important resource which can be used to keep up to date with the latest developments in the law. They are also a key source of academic criticism and commentary upon the law which should be used in addition to the various books already outlined, particularly when researching for a piece of written work, a seminar, or a moot. Journals contain a mixture of articles, news, notes, reviews, and digests. They are usually published as individual issues, which combine to make up volumes. Page 7 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications 8.2.1 General journals General journals tend to contain lengthy articles based on extensive academic research. Most include notes of recent cases, news of legal developments, and book reviews. The general journals most frequently encountered are the Law Quarterly Review, Legal Studies, the Cambridge Law Journal, the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, and the Modern Law Review. They are published relatively infrequently; typically with four or six issues per year. 8.2.2 Specialist journals Specialist journals are similar to the general journals in that they primarily provide academic commentary p. 179 and news on the law. However, they focus on particular aspects of the law. ↵ Examples of these include the Criminal Law Review, Family Law, Civil Justice Quarterly, and the Journal of Business Law. There are also shorter specialist bulletins and newsletters which are focused on the needs of practitioners, such as Simon’s Tax Intelligence, Property Law Bulletin, and Business Law Brief. These are of less immediate importance to your core studies, although you should at least be aware of their existence. 8.2.3 Practitioner journals Practitioner journals are usually published weekly or bi-weekly. These tend to contain shorter articles on a wide range of topics of interest to lawyers in practice as well as case notes, digests, and practice notes. The articles are not usually covered in as great a depth as the general or specialist journals and are often written by other practitioners rather than by academic lawyers. They still provide useful information and should not be overlooked, although they do carry less academic weight than the general and specialist academic journals. The journals in this category that you are most likely to encounter include the New Law Journal, Solicitors’ Journal, the Law Society Gazette, Counsel, and Criminal Law and Justice Weekly. 8.2.4 Foreign journals English-language journals, especially those from other common law jurisdictions such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, can be useful when undertaking comparisons with the UK. Most libraries will carry a selection of foreign journals, such as the Harvard Law Review, the Australian Law Journal, and the Canadian Bar Review. 8.2.5 Some guidance on using journals It is important to remember that academic journal articles are explanations, commentaries, criticisms, and analysis of specific aspects of the law and the significance or implications of the law—they are not the law itself. They are an opinion on the law and are therefore a useful secondary source which can be used in conjunction with primary legal sources (cases and legislation) to supplement the arguments which you are making. Page 8 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications Journal articles certainly provide evidence of further research and reading, particularly in essay questions (see chapter 14) and dissertations (see chapter 17). You must still ensure that the journals that you are using are appropriate. Academic journals are regarded as more authoritative than practitioner (or trade) journals. The most authoritative journal articles are those from academic peer-reviewed journals. This means that, before being published, articles are reviewed blind (that is, without the reviewer knowing who the article is by, or their institution). The journal will typically have an editorial board of other experts who it can call upon for review. Reviewers will either recommend publication, reject the article, or suggest major or minor amendments before agreeing to publish. Any amendments will also be reviewed. This is a rigorous process which ensures that articles in peer-reviewed journals have been read, considered, reviewed, and recommended by one or more recognized experts in the field. The quality control which is embedded in the process means that academic peer-reviewed articles are an extremely valuable secondary source of commentary which will add value to your work. You should try to find journal websites online, as these often list the members of the editorial board and give you reassurance that the contents have been properly peer-reviewed. Take a look at Figure 8.1 which shows an example of an editorial board (for the p. 180 International Review of Law, Computers and Technology). ↵ Page 9 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025 8. Books, journals, and official publications Figure 8.1 Editorial board Although practitioner journals are useful for keeping you up to date with developments in the law since they are often published more frequently than the academic journals, you should try to avoid using them as serious academic authority. If you find an interesting article or case note in a practitioner journal, you should always try to see if you can find material on the same (or a similar) topic in a journal which carries greater academic authority. That is not to say that practitioner journals have no merit. They may carry the only commentary on a new development and, as such, can be used together with other journal articles within your essay. As long as you strike an appropriate balance between the two types of journal, you will demonstrate your ability to select and present commentary on the law. Page 10 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications You should also be careful to make sure that you understand the point which the article you wish to use is trying to make. Do not fall into the trap of using a quotation from an article ‘just because it sounded clever’ if you fail to realize the point that the author is trying to make. Your lecturer will understand the quotation and will also spot if you are misusing or misinterpreting it. Ensure that you explain why the views you are including from journals are relevant to your essay and significant in terms of the argument you are putting forward. Well-used academic commentary should help you to support the points you are making. You can then give your own comment on the journal’s perspective: do you agree or disagree with it? Explain why. This will demonstrate your ability to synthesize and analyse multiple sources. p. 181 ↵ Finally, be careful with articles which put forward extreme or sensationalist views. These will typically represent one side of an argument, and it is important to put forward a balanced view which evaluates and considers both sides. 8.3 Official Publications 8.3.1 Command Papers Command Papers derive their name from the fact that they are presented to Parliament ‘by Command of His Majesty’. In fact, they are generally presented by a Government Minister. Command Papers are papers of interest to Parliament where presentation to Parliament is not required by statute. The subjects may include: Major policy proposals (White Papers) Consultation documents (Green Papers) Diplomatic documents such as treaties Government responses to Select Committee reports Reports of major committees of inquiry Certain departmental reports or reviews. 8.3.2 Bills As you will recall from section 2.1.1, Bills are draft Acts of Parliament, put forward for debate. They are particularly useful when used in conjunction with the reports of Parliamentary debate, as you will be able to follow the various amendments made between versions of the Bill and the final Act of Parliament alongside the debate in Parliament that drove those amendments. Page 11 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications 8.3.3 Parliamentary papers The papers of the House of Commons originate inside the House and are ‘Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed …’. They comprise the reports and evidence of Select Committees or the proceedings of Standing Committees considering legislation. Other House of Commons papers include: Reports of investigations of the National Audit Office Financial papers Annual reports of official bodies Accounts of official bodies Various administrative reports. The House of Lords publishes substantially fewer papers than the Commons. Until the 1986/87 session both Bills and papers were numbered in one single sequence. From 1987/88 House of Lords papers and Bills are split into two separately numbered sequences. 8.3.4 Parliamentary debates (Hansard or the Official Report) Parliament once prohibited all reporting and publishing of its proceedings, believing that it should p. 182 deliberate in private. Indeed, it regarded any attempt to publicize its proceedings as ↵ a serious punishable offence. However, by the late 1700s, dissent both from the public and within Parliament persuaded Parliament to relax its stance. In 1803 the House of Commons allowed the press to enter the public gallery and William Cobbett, publisher of Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, added reprints of reports of speeches taken from other newspapers in a new supplement. In 1812 publication was taken over by Cobbett’s assistant, Thomas Hansard, who in 1829 changed the title of the reports to Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates. By 1878 dissatisfaction with the accuracy of the report was being expressed, and Hansard received a special subsidy conditional upon his employing special Parliamentary reporters. In 1888 a Parliamentary Select Committee recommended that, rather than let Hansard publish the debates, an authorized version ought to be published. This version was published without using the name Hansard. This authorized version was officially adopted by Parliament in 1907 as a ‘full report, in the first person, of all speakers alike’, with a full report being defined as: one which, though not strictly verbatim, is substantially the verbatim report, with repetitions and redundancies omitted and with obvious mistakes corrected, but which on the other hand leaves out nothing that adds to the meaning of the speech or illustrates the argument. In 1943 it was decided to reintroduce the name Hansard because of its popular usage. Page 12 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications Therefore Hansard (the Official Report) is the edited verbatim report of proceedings in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Commons Hansard covers proceedings in the Commons Chamber, Westminster Hall, and Standing Committees. Lords Hansard covers proceedings in the Lords Chamber and its Grand Committees. Both contain Written Ministerial Statements and Written Answers. 8.3.5 Law Commission reports The Law Commission was set up by the Law Commissions Act 1965 for the purpose of promoting reform of the law. Its key aims are: To ensure that the law is as fair, modern, simple, and as cost-effective as possible. To conduct research and consultations in order to make systematic recommendations for consideration by Parliament. To codify the law, eliminate anomalies, repeal obsolete and unnecessary enactments, and reduce the number of separate statutes. Law Commission reports provide a useful insight into reasons behind law reforms and more than two- thirds of the Commission’s law reform recommendations have been implemented. There are also recommendations that are waiting for the Government’s decision, or Parliamentary time for debate. Recent examples of legislation that have followed, in whole or in part, from Commission reports include the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 and Part 6 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017. Even recommendations that have not been implemented will give an overview of the problems that were perceived in the law and may prove useful in essays that require a critical discussion of the topic. The Law Commission Act 2009 was implemented to improve the rate at which the Commission’s recommendations for reform of the law are implemented by Government. It requires the Lord Chancellor to report annually to Parliament on the extent to which Government has implemented Law Commission recommendations. p. 183 ↵ Many Law Commission reports are published as Command Papers or Parliamentary Papers. You can find a useful table on reports and their implementation status on the Law Commission website. 8.4 Other Secondary Sources 8.4.1 Websites and blogs Although there is a vast amount of material available online, you need to exercise care to ensure that material you find is reliable, valuable, and credible. This can be a difficult task, although the following pointers should be borne in mind: Page 13 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications Does the material give an author’s name? If so, is the author a reputable academic or practitioner? Can you find any biographical information which will enable you to determine the academic value of the material? Is the information in a reputable online publication? Does the article carry a bibliography? Is it adequately referenced? Is the material on an official website (such as that of a law firm or chambers) or a personal website? The latter should be used with caution since anyone can set up a personal site. Has the material been evaluated independently before publication? There is more in-depth guidance on evaluating the provenance of online and other resources in chapter 14. 8.4.2 Newspapers In addition to law reports, newspapers often contain comment and analysis on recent legal developments and interesting background material on topical issues. The Times in particular carries a law supplement on Thursdays. 8.4.3 Think tanks Think tanks are typically research institutes or other organizations that provide specialist advice and ideas on national problems, such as the Centre for Policy Studies, the Commonwealth Policy Studies Institute, or the Institute for Public Policy Research. Whilst their reports are not official, they can sometimes be influential in driving legislative policy. 8.4.4 ‘Soft law’ Soft law is sometimes referred to as quasi-legislation—or ‘law-which-is-not-law’. There are several sources of ‘soft law’. Soft law is typically administrative in nature and is probably best p. 184 explained by way of examples (see Table 8.1). ↵ Table 8.1 Some examples of ‘soft law’ Category Examples Prescriptive rules Codes of Practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Highway Code ACAS (Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service) codes relating to employment disputes Page 14 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025 8. Books, journals, and official publications Category Examples Procedural rules Practice Directions Prison rules Gaming Board rules for application for gaming licences Codes of Practice issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Instructions Home Office circulars to magistrates’ courts Home Office circulars to chief constables Prison department circulars, orders, and regulations Guides to Official statements explaining how terms or rules will be interpreted interpretation Recommendations Specimen directions to juries formulated by the Judicial Studies Board Guidance notes issued by the Health and Safety Executive Rules of practice Tax concessions made by the Commissioners for the Inland Revenue outside those permitted by statute Voluntary codes Broadcasting Complaints Authority Press Complaints Commission City Code on takeovers and mergers The legal effect of these various sources is not certain until they have been tested in court. Sometimes they 2 are given legal effect, sometimes not, and in some instances, inconsistently. The House of Lords has expressed concern regarding the uncertain legal consequences of non-compliance and the Cabinet Office 3 has provided some ‘Guidance on Codes of Practice and Legislation’ in its Guide to Making Legislation. Chapter Summary Books Student textbooks collect together, analyse, and criticize the law in particular areas; they do not generally carry any great authority Cases and materials books provide a useful starting point for research, but are not a substitute for finding and reading original materials Monographs are a detailed written study of a single specialized topic; they cover particular narrow subject areas in much greater depth than student textbooks Page 15 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025  8. Books, journals, and official publications Practitioners’ books are primarily reference works for practising lawyers Legal encyclopedias and digests such as Halsbury’s Laws of England, Halsbury’s Statutes, and The Digest are extremely useful and comprehensive research tools p. 185 Legal dictionaries exist alongside conventional dictionaries; some specialize in a particular topic Judicial dictionaries are large reference works which provide detailed commentary on judicial interpretation of words and phrases Revision guides can serve a useful purpose, but are not a substitute for attendance at lectures or seminars or a shortcut for reading and thinking Journals Journals are an important resource which can be used to keep up to date with the latest developments in the law General journals contain articles based on extensive academic research Specialist journals also contain academic articles but with a focus on a particular area of the law Practitioner journals carry less academic weight but are published more frequently; they tend to contain shorter articles Foreign journals from other common law jurisdictions can be a useful resource when undertaking comparative research Official publications Command Papers contain matters of interest to Parliament Bills are draft Acts of Parliament put forward for debate Papers of the House of Commons primarily comprise reports and evidence of Select Committees or the proceedings of Standing Committees The House of Lords publishes substantially fewer papers than the Commons Hansard (the Official Report) is the edited verbatim report of proceedings in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords Law Commission reports give insight into areas of the law requiring reform; over two-thirds of its recommendations are implemented Other secondary sources Online material can be useful but should be used with caution Newspapers often contain comment and analysis on recent legal developments Page 16 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025 8. Books, journals, and official publications Think-tank reports can be influential in driving legislative policy ‘Soft law’ comprises rules, guidelines, codes, and recommendations which may be given legal effect when tested in court Further Reading An interesting historical legal perspective on the emergence of quasi-legislation is given in RE Megarry, ‘Administrative Quasi-legislation’ (1944) 60 LQR 125. The varieties of quasi-legislative rule, how the courts have dealt with them, and how they may best be accommodated within the UK constitutional framework is discussed in R Baldwin and J Houghton, ‘Circular Arguments: The Status and Legitimacy of Administrative Rules’ PL 239. Notes 1. P Clinch, ‘Systems of Reporting Judicial Decision Making’ (PhD thesis, University of Sheffield 1989) 481. 2. HL Deb 15 January 1986, vol 469, cols 1075–105. 3. Cabinet Office, Guide to Making Legislation (2022) accessed 8 November 2022. © Emily Finch and Stefan Fafinski 2023 Find This Title In the OUP print catalogue Page 17 of 17 Printed from Oxford Law Trove. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: University of Manchester; date: 17 January 2025