Legal Research

I. Legal Bibliography-
1.1 Definition and Scope of Legal Bibliography
1.2 Importance of Legal Bibliography
Legal Bibliography- study of law books, their history, authorship, editions, dates of publication,
and classification; science that deals with the description and history of books pertaining to law;
study of the materials essential to the legal inquiry of the researcher
Legal Research- method of locating the laws, court decisions and principles to support a legal
theory, proposition, or argument; is the inquiry and investigation necessary to be made by
lawyers and legal writers in the performance of their functions; method or system of inquiry
and investigation involving the actual use of the law books
Law books- represents a particular species of books such that many writers already spell the
term lawbooks
Sourcebooks- refer to books containing source materials of the law
Law (Batas)
a. During Martial Law- Batas Pambansa
b. 1987 Constitution- Republic Act (continued the numbers starting RA 6636- An Act
Resetting the Local Elections from Nov. 9, 1987 to January 18, 1988 amending for the
purpose Executive Order No. 270)
Lawyer-the only one authorized to practice law and appear before the courts; also called
attorney-at-law or counsellor-at-law; in Spanish, he is abogado; in French, he is avocat, in
Filipino, manananggol
Procuradores- men who know little of the spirit and service of the law but are exceedingly
skillful in handling articles of the codes of procedure
In the Philippines, lawyers are not divided into solicitors and barristers, as they are in England
Counsel de oficio vs counsel de parte- the former is an attorney appointed by the court to
defend for free an indigent defendant in a criminal case while the latter is an attorney retained
by a party litigant usually for a fee to prosecute or defend his cause in court
Amicus curiae- friend of the court; an impartial attorney invited by the court to appear and
help in the disposition of cases submitted to it. (Question: Can he, himself, petition the court for
him to become amicus curiae? Is intervenor the same with it?)
Attorney of record- a lawyer who appears in the records of a case as the lawyer of a client to
whom the official notices meant for the client are served
Of counsel- term that is commonly understood in the Philippines to mean a lawyer or legal
consultant of a law firm
Plaintiffs-one who initiate court litigations if they are ordinary civil actions or even criminal
cases with PP being the plaintiff
Petitioner- used in special civil actions and special proceedings
1.3 Classification of Law Books
1.3.1 As to authority
Primary authority- mandatory or imperative (eg. Direct legislation, judicial decisions,
administrative rules and regulations adopted pursuant to law, books*)
Secondary authority- persuasive (eg. Indexes, case digests, encyclopedias, citators,
commentaries of legal experts and text and treatise of writers, opinion of SOJ, books*)
1.3.2 As to source
Primary source materials- official publications of the government or any of its agencies
(eg. Official Gazettes, Philippine Reports, looseleaf copies of court’s decisions, Journal of
BP, Proceedings of ConCon as official printed, UP Law Center publications)
Secondary source materials- unofficial publication of private publishers or institutions;
not the official sources of law, nor are they authorized to be official publishers (eg.
SCRA, Phil. Law and Jurisprudence, Philippine Annotated Laws)
1.3.3 As to character (statute books, case books, such as court reports and decisions, search
books- digests, citators, legal forms, books of index, encyclopedias), doctrinal writings,
treaties, commentaries and textbooks
Search books- primary authority or secondary authority
Book publishers and Dealers- eg. Central Law Book Supply, Inc., Alemar’s, NBS, RBS
1.4 Other Source Materials
Plain and Simple documents- first source of legal information, consists basically of
documents, or the looseleaf pamphlets and slip documents coming from government
agencies
1.4.1 Periodicals
1.4.1.1 Law Journals (eg. Phil. Law Journal, Integrated Bar Journal, Phil. Tax Journal, Finance
Journal, Tax Monthly, National International Review, Batas at Katarungan)
1.4.1.2 Bulletins (Ateneo Law Bulletin, SEC Bulletin, Tala Industrial Relations Bulletin, Insurance
Reporter, Civil Service Reporter, Central Bank Review, Philippine Research Guide, Phil.
Law Report)
1.4.1.3 Gazettes -similar to journals but do not have any pretense at being too scholarly; their
function is to be immediately informative (eg. Official Gazette, Philippine Law Gazette,
The Lawyers’ Review, Philippine Judicial Weekly)
1.4.1.4 Newspapers- immediate reportage of laws and presidential issuances of general interest
including official actions by government agencies and court decisions
1.4.1.5 Newsletters- cheapest to produce; ranges from plain news on the activities of the
association that publishes newsletter
Contents of Periodicals
1. Articles- very useful because of their analytical treatment of legal problems and
observations on recent legal developments
2. Newspaper digests- contains brief ruling of recent decisions of the SC which are not yet
found in the books
3. Case abstract- case digests eg. Philippine Law Report by UPLC
4. Summaries of Legislation- eg. IBP Journal
5. Book Reviews- eg. Phil Law Journal, IB Journal, Criminal Justice Journal
1.4.2 Computerized and Internet Legal Databanks
1.4.2.1 Audio Cassette Tapes
1.4.2.2 Video Cassette Tapes
1.4.2.3 Microfiche Libraries
1.4.2.4 Computerized legal databanks

2. Statutory Law
2.1 Definition
2.2 Enactment, Termination, Effectivity of Statutes
2.3 Classification
2.3.1 Kinds of Written Constitution
2.3.2 Parts of a Written Constitution
2.4 Treaties
2.5 Statutes
2.5.1 Classes
2.5.2 Parts of a Statute
2.5.3 Classification
2.5.3.1 Pre-Spanish Laws
2.5.3.2 Spanish Laws
2.5.3.3 Revolutionary Laws
2.5.3.4 Organic Acts
2.5.3.5 Constitutions
2.5.3.6 General Orders
2.5.3.7 Acts
2.5.3.8 Codes
2.5.3.9 Letter of Instructions
2.5.3.19 Court Rules
2.6 Municipal Legislations
2.7 Subordinate Legislations
2.8 Legislative Rules
2.9 Court Rules
3. Case Law in General
3.1 Definition and Source of Case Law
3.2 Article 8, Civil Code
3.3 Hierarchy of Courts
3.4 Jurisdiction of Regular Courts
3.5 Doctrine of Stare Decisis
3.6 Res Judicata
3.7 Law of the Case
3.8 Similarity between Res Judicata and Law of the Case
4. Reporting of Decisions in the Philippines
4.1 Parts of a Reported Case
5. Decisions of the Supreme Court
5.1 Official Repositories of Decisions of the Supreme Court
5.2 Unofficial Reporting of Supreme Court Decisions
5.3 Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA)
5.4 Philippine Reports Annotated
6. Decisions of the Court of Appeals
6.1 Advance Sheets
6.2 Official Gazette
6.3 Appellate Court Reports
6.4 Court of Appeals Reports
7. Search Books
7.1 Source Books of Secondary Authority
7.2 Pure Search Books
7.3 Textbooks and Treatise