Chapter 1 Where to Find the Law

He was searching for something and，like everyone else，he had no idea where to find it.

——Nick Burd

Today，the fastest and most common way to find information is to search the internet.There is an astonishing amount of material on the web.Whether you are looking for a product，a story，a song or a video，and whether the search relates to architecture，climate，economics，history，politics or zoology，you can find a mountain of material on the internet.Just google it.（The name Google was well chosen by Larry Page；“googol” — one，followed by a hundred zeroes.）

If one googles the law on a particular topic or issue，the search unearths a huge mass of results，such as Wikipedia notes，comments from law firms（including blogs and podcasts），articles and books.

Of course，the more reliable way to know the law on a particular matter is to consult a lawyer，either on a friendly or a professional basis.Professional advice，however，can be expensive.

Short of taking legal advice，an internet search may be the next most realistic way to get a simplistic and tentative idea of the law on the matter.Of course，as this book seeks to explain，there are many challenges in trying to understand law.Wikipedia is a rich and reasonably accurate source of legal information.Notes from law firms vary in terms of usefulness；some are very brief whilst others go beyond a summary to provide some insight and analysis.If you want comprehensive analysis from law firms，you will have to pay for it.

Articles by academics can provide detailed analysis but you usually have to subscribe to the journal.One challenge is that such articles may be impenetrable because of legal jargon and，at times，verbose language.

And，of course，there are books，physical or electronic.There are two main categories of law books — those for law students and law teachers，and those for practitioners.Apart from these two，there are books for non- law students and books for the general public.

Just as the right note or article is useful for finding out the law on a particular issue or topic，the right book can also give you a good understanding of an area of law，such as criminal law，banking law or intellectual property （IP） law.

What is particularly important to know，in the context of this chapter，is that the authoritative law is not any of the above-mentioned resources.Lawyers term them “secondary” materials.The actual law is found in the “primary”materials.

What are the primary materials？ Basically，they are the statutes （or legislation） and case reports （reports of judgments）.Let me elaborate.

Legislation may be primary or subsidiary.Primary legislation refers to the Acts （statutes） passed by parliament.Subsidiary legislation refers to legislation which parliament has delegated to someone else （usually the relevant minister）to bring to pass.For example，in companies legislation，it is common to find a Companies Act，which is supplemented by Companies Rules and Companies Orders.If there is ambiguity or inconsistency between the primary and the subsidiary legislation，naturally the former prevails.

The authority or basis for the law on the crime of killing is not some famous textbook writer but a statutory provision.In Commonwealth countries （see Chapter 31 for an explanation of legal systems），there is typically a Penal Code，which contains a section with wording such as — “Whoever causes death by doing an act with the intention of causing death… commits the offence of culpable homicide.” If a writer of an article or a book wants to state a legal proposition （that is，a principle or rule） on this offence，he needs to give or quote an authority.Thus，he may write：“It is an offence for a person to intentionally kill another person：section 299，Penal Code”.

Besides a statutory provision，the authority for a legal principle may originate from case law — a case report of a judgment — instead.For example，on the question of what a defamatory statement is，a lawyer from a common law country（practically，countries which are/were part of the British Commonwealth；see Chapter 31） would give a response such as：“A defamatory statement is one which injures the reputation of another by exposing him to hatred，contempt or ridicule，or which tends to lower the claimant in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally：Sim v.Stretch”.

Basically，in this landmark decision of Sim v.Stretch，the English court，and more specifically Lord Atkin，defined defamation in that way.

The above statement of the law may look simple but，in substance，it is not.A lot goes into the crafting of legal propositions，as we shall see in Part II.Because the Sim v.Stretch statement was so well-crafted，it continues to be cited as authority today，some 80 years later.

In common law countries，the case law which a court refers to is not confined to decisions from its own courts.Judges often refer to decisions from other common law countries，especially those of higher level and apex courts（apex courts are the highest courts，such as the Supreme Court in the UK and the Court of Appeal in Singapore）.These decisions are of persuasive authority and，for courts in some countries，even binding authority.Singapore courts，for example，often refer to decisions from the UK，Australia，Canada，Malaysia and Hong Kong SAR，amongst others.

It should be noted that in countries with a federal system of government，such as the US，Canada，Australia and Brazil，there are laws at the state level as well as at the federal or national level.Sometimes，the state may even be broken into municipalities （towns and districts） with power to make laws as well.Hence，in these countries，one has to adhere to two （or more） sets of laws，along with the complications which that might bring.

Although the primary materials are the authoritative source，the practical thing to do is to go to secondary sources first.A good secondary source，be it an article or a book，gives the enquirer a good introduction to the subject.It sets out the legal principle（s） and the relevant authorities，and may discuss and analyse the controversies.

So，basically，in the search for law，one begins with the secondary sources，which leads one to the authoritative primary sources.