College of Law San Beda College (Mendiola) (Mendiola) July 19, 2011

The process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making(It) includes each step of a course of action that begins with the analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and communication of the results of the research.

I.

Statutes or statutory law - Constitution: fundamental law of the law

a. Legislature: - The Congress, comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives - Acts (1900-1935, 4,275) - Commonwealth Acts (1935-1945, 733) - Republic Acts (1946-1972; 1987-2011, 10,153) - Mga Batas Pambansa (1979-1985, 884)

b. Executive - Office of the President and Administrative Agencies - Presidential Decrees (Marcos 1972-1985, 2,034), Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations - Treaties and international agreements - Administrative/Departmental Orders, Rules, Rulings, Memorandum Orders and Circulars - Local government ordinances

c. Judiciary - Rules of Court - Civil Procedure - Special Proceedings - Criminal Procedure - Evidence - Summary Procedure

II. Jurisprudence or case law - Decided or written opinions by courts - Decisions and resolutions of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (1901 to the present: over 70,000 cases) III. Muslim Law or Sharia Law - limited application

Classification of Law by Authority Classification of Law by Source

MANDATORY AUTHORITY
Consists of the law itself, as expressed in the verbatim texts of the statute or case law. Mandatory authorities must be followed and must be cited first.

PERSUASIVE AUTHORITY
Laws and decisions of other jurisdictions Opinions of government agencies (BIR, DOJ) Executive interpretation of legislative enactments is accorded weight by the judiciary Persuasive authorities may be followed.

PRIMARY SOURCE
Official records of the statute or case law as published by the issuing agencies

SECONDARY SOURCE
Published by unofficial sources

PRIMARY SOURCE
Statutory law
Congressional records Official Gazette (O.G.) Pursuant to E.O. No. 200 (1987): newspapers of general circulation

Case law
Philippine Reports Official Gazette Advanced Sheets

SECONDARY SOURCE
Statutory law
Vital Legal Documents Commentaries, textbooks

Case law
Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA) Supreme Court Decisions (SCAD)

Advantages of Using Electronic Media Factors to Consider in Choosing an Electronic Legal Research Library Current Electronic Legal Research Resources

The use of available technology (e.g., computers, the internet, PDAs) and electronic media (e.g., optical discs, hard drives, e-books, flash drives) for legal research This has become a popular methodology because the information is more updated and the use of search engines facilitate easier, faster, more accurate research.

Can store large amounts of information Storage for hundreds of thousands of pages Portable Can be carried around easily Takes up very little space An entire library can fit in a space as big as one textbook Facilitates faster research Search engines and customized search templates produce search results in seconds

Information is flexible and more easily manipulated Can be copied to another electronic medium, printed, edited more easily Information is easier to update and can be more current Files are easily processed and uploaded Durable Can last a lifetime with proper use Cost-effective Cheaper in the long run; contains considerably larger volume of materials

Currency
Is the database up-to-date? Is the information upto-date?

Accuracy
What are the sources of the information?

Reliability
Who published or operates the website?

Usability
Is the information inside the library arranged properly? With a subject index? Does it have a search engine? What are the type of searches that can be done? Can the information be cited as a mandatory or persuasive authority? Is the library a primary or secondary source of legal information?

Internet (Online Resources) Optical Media

INTERNET: A massive network of computers linked together and communicating with each other through a series of protocols
Carries the information sources and services that comprises the web

WORLD WIDE WEB (www): The information sharing model built on top of the Internet

FREE ACCESS SITES

Non-commercial; access is free There are over 200,000 sites on the web with legal information Examples of Foreign sites
Cornell Legal Information Institute www.law.cornell.edu Findlaw www.findlaw.com World Legal Information Institute www.worldlii.org Internet Legal Research Group - www.ilrg.com LexisOne www.lexisone.com

COMMERCIAL OR SUBSCRIPTION SITES

Pay-for-use sites Password is required to access data Foreign-run sites Westlaw - published by Thompson Reuters www.westlaw.com

COMMERCIAL OR SUBSCRIPTION SITES

Lexis-Nexis
Has content from over 33,000 sources Features the Shepards Citation Service, LexisNexis Case Summaries, Headnotes Includes coverage and analysis of laws of more than 230 countries

www.lexisnexis.com

A storage medium or device in which information, including sounds and/or images, or software code, has been stored, either by mastering and/or replication, which may be accessed and read using a lens scanning mechanism employing a high intensity light source such as a laser or any such other means as may be developed in the future. (Sec. 3 (i), Republic Act No. 9239, The Optical Media Act of 2003)

CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only-Memory)

Stores up to 650 megabytes of data Can store up to 300,000 text pages Stamped by a vendor; once stamped, it cannot be erased or filled with new data Conforms to a standard size and format so it can be used in any CD-ROM player

DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc Read-OnlyMemory)

Holds a minimum of 4.7 gigabytes of data, enough for a full-length movie or app. 2 million text pages

Free Access Sites

The Official Government Portal of Republic of the Philippines www.gov.ph Senate of the Philippines ww.senate.gov.ph House of Representatives www.congress.gov.ph Supreme Court website sc.judiciary.gov.ph Chan Robles www.chanrobles.com Lawphil www.lawphil.net

Commercial Sites
CD Asia Online www.cdasiaonline.com
Contains Laws and Jurisprudence

PRIMARY SOURCES
Case Law Supreme Court e-library (distributed to courts)

SECONDARY SOURCES
Publications of private companies/entities
Accesslaw, Inc. Laws Annotated and Comprehensive Access to the Tax System Agoo Institute e-Library: A Century and years of Supreme Court Decisions EMSAVIL Law Office E-Juris

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CD Asia publications
The Philippine Law Library
Includes the popular Lex Libris series Laws Philippine Edition, Taxation Philippine Edition, Jurisprudence, Department of Justice (Opinions of the Secretary), Local Autonomy and Local Government, Environment and Natural Resources, Labor and Social Legislation, Philippine Elections, Trade Commerce and Industry, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Persons and Family Relations

CD Asia publications
Other titles in the PLL Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, The Student Edition, The Bench Companion, National Administrative Register, Proceedings of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, Impeachment Proceedings Against Joseph E. Estrada, DAR Legal Information Archive, Compendium of Philippine Customs Laws and Regulations, and Government Procurement Policy Board.

CD Asia publications
The Legal Knowledge Titles
Education Law and the Private Schools by Atty. Ulpiano Sarmiento III Philippine Judicial and Legal Forms by Atty. Theodore O. Te Indigenous Peoples and the Law by Atty. Sedfrey M. Candelaria, et al. Philippine Legal and Judicial Ethics (featuring the book The Good Lawyer by Atty. Bobby A. Quitain) Lexicon of Philippine Legal Terms by the CD Asia Editorial Board

CD Asia publications
The Philippine Legal Encyclopedia Series
Philippine Law Encyclopedia Philippine Taxation Encyclopedia

Subject Index
Catalogue of materials for the same subject matter Search through the group possible through tagging of basic data units ex. Philippine Law Encyclopedia, The Student Edition

Hyperlinks
A word, phrase, or image that allows the user to jump to a new document or another section of a database Useful in looking for related or connected information ex. Philippine Taxation Encyclopedia

Search Engines
A tool that sifts through the pages of a compilation, matching the search parameters with available information. General and site specific search engines Used together with search templates and indexed or tagged information ex. Supreme Court , CD Asia Online, The Student Edition

Search Parameters
Formulation of search query using key word/s or phrases with connectors and special characters Use of Boolean method of searching the use of operators and special characters together with the key words
Example of special characters: *, ? Example of operators: and, or

Phrase Searching
Use quotation marks to capture two or more words as an exact phrase Example : qualified theft, consummated felonies, national territory, breach of promise to marry, 114 SCRA 77

Proximity Searching
An extended version of phrase searching; ability to capture phrase with words in-between

Sample proximity search for statutory citations Ex.Look for all citations of Republic Act No. 8424 - Can be cited as follows: Republic Act No. 8424 Republic Act 8424 Rep. Act No. 8424 Rep. Act 8424 RA No. 8424 RA 8424

Proximity Search

Rep* 8424/5 or RA 8424/5

Sample unordered proximity search for keywords Ex.Look for all instances of tax exemption Can be written as tax exempt; exempted from tax; exemption from taxes; exempted from paying taxes Unordered proximity search

tax* exempt*@10

There are many resources available for legal research.

Exercise discernment in choosing the resources you will use. Use only resources that are reliable, accurate and current. For electronic legal research, look for features in the resources that will help fine-tune your research (i.e., search engines, search parameters, etc.)

It is worthwhile to invest in legal research resources.

Using these resources results in increased efficiency and productivity.