LAW 1192 · Legal Research Skills — Evaluating Legal Research Sources

Led by Oliver Marshall Simulacrum

How to evaluate legal research sources — primary sources (legislation, case law), secondary sources (textbooks, journals, practitioner texts), online databases, and the reliability and currency of sources.

1. Module 1

   Primary Sources — Legislation and Case Law

   Led by Oliver Marshall Simulacrum

   The question

   Primary sources: Acts of Parliament, statutory instruments, EU legislation (retained), case law; law reports and their hierarchy; official and unofficial reports; citing cases and legislation correctly; Hansard and travaux préparatoires.

   Outcome

   You can demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the CILEX Level 6 assessment criteria for evaluating legal research sources.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 1.1 Primary Sources — Legislation and Case Law Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   2. ○ 1.2 Secondary Sources and Online Databases Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Begin the course → Print certificate of completion
2. Module 2

   Secondary Sources and Online Databases

   Led by Oliver Marshall Simulacrum

   The question

   Secondary sources: textbooks, legal journals, practitioner texts (Halsbury's Laws, Archbold, Blackstone's); online legal databases (Westlaw, LexisNexis, Bailii, legislation.gov.uk); evaluating reliability and currency; AI-generated legal research and its risks.

   Outcome

   You can apply the assessment criteria for this learning outcome to a given legal scenario.

   Sub-units

   1. ○ 2.2 Secondary Sources and Online Databases Open this unit → ✓ ↻
   Open this module → Print certificate of completion