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DEFINITIONS (LAW038)

Library

Information skills: information literacy

Information literacy: a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information

is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed

information

Library: a building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes

films and recorded music for use of borrowing by the public or the members of an

institution

National library: a library established and funded by the national government of a country

to serve as the preeminent repository of information for that country

Public library: designed to serve the community and to provide lending and reference

services to a broad range of professional and non-professional users

Special library: a library maintained by an organization to collect materials and provide

information of special relevance to the work of the organization

Academic library: attached to a higher education institution which supports the research

of the university, faculty and the students

School library: serve the needs of secondary and elementary school students and to

some degree, their teachers

Digital library: a set of electronic resources and associated technical capabilities for

creating, searching and using information

Acquisitions: responsible for procuring reading materials and media except for serial

materials

Cataloging: process of listing something for inclusion in a catalog

Circulation: responsible in activities related to book reservation, lending, counter

services, inter-library loans, and membership registration (the basic processes in a

library)

Inter-library loan: service where library borrow materials unavailable in the library from

other libraries nationally and internationally

Serials: responsible for the selection, ordering, receipt and cataloging for all journals,

annuals, business services, electronic indexes and full text journals

Reference: responsible in giving reference services and assistance to users in getting

the right information either for study or research

Reference librarians: intermediaries between information sources and users

Administration: responsible for the maintenance and safety for all buildings of a library

Automation: plan, implement, manage and maintain the library’s technology-related

initiatives

Integrated Library Management Utility (ILMU): library information and knowledge

management software developed by UiTM to enable librarians to process users’

requests, create orders, generate claims and cancellations

Library catalog: a systematic listing of the books and materials in a library with

descriptive information about the author, title, edition, publisher, date, physical

appearance, subject matter, special features and location

Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC): an online database of materials held by library

Classification systems: organization of books on the shelves of a library

Types of Information

Format: the way information is packaged in the library

Primary sources: raw material, firsthand information or original thinking relevant to an

event // original materials which have not been filtered through interpretation or

evaluation

Secondary sources: discussions or comment, usually about the primary sources

Tertiary sources: compilation or digest of information in primary and secondary sources

in order to provide background on a topic, idea or event

Reference: someone or something which is a source of information about a subject

Reference sources: provide background information, access to factual and statistical

information, and also references to other sources of information

Encyclopedia: a book or a set of books containing information on various subjects from

any branches of knowledge // an alphabetic and comprehensive summary of a subject

Almanac: a publication with statistics and a compilation of specific facts often arranged

according to the calendar

Textbook: a commentary on a specific subject or branch of study

Practitioners’ books: provide a very detailed description of an object, and are designed

for the legal profession

Students’ textbooks: describe the general principles of law, with an emphasis on the

present state of the law

Casebooks: reprint or summarizes key cases and other law materials on a topic

Yearbook: annual publication presenting the events or aspects of the previous year

Handbook: a small book that gives brief and useful information about a particular

subject, which is intended to provide ready reference

Dictionary: a linguistic work which primarily focuses on alphabetical listing of words and

their definitions

Biographical dictionary: contains concise biographical information about the lives of the

people

Atlas: a book of maps or charts, with or without explanatory texts such as geography

information

Bibliography: a list of books or other publications referred to in a scholarly work, typically

printed as an appendix

Directory: a book or website listing individuals or organizations alphabetically,

geographically, or by specialization with details such as names, addresses, and

telephone numbers

Gazetteer: a dictionary which provides geographical information about places, normally

used in conjunction with a map or atlas

Bookness of a book: the qualities which have to do with a book (binded,

paper/electronic, words/image, distributed)

Indexes: locate articles in periodicals

Abstract: short summary of an article, book or other sources

CD-ROM: plastic disk, on which can be stored up to 250,000 pages of text

Legal Research

Legal research: the search for authority that can be applied to a given set of facts and

issues // the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal

decision-making

Sources of Law

Written law: law that has been enacted by the legislature (FC, SC, Legislation,

Subsidiary Legislation)

Unwritten law: law that has not been enacted by the legislature (judicial precedent,

customs, English/Common law)

Federal constitution: supreme law of the country

Legislation: laws made by a person or body which has power to make law // laws passed

by the legislature (Parliament, State Legislative Council)

Subsidiary legislation/delegated/subordinate: made by persons or bodies under powers

conferred on them by acts of parliament or enactments of state assemblies

English Law/Common Law: principles of English law applicable to local circumstances

Judicial precedent: decisions of the higher courts in previous cases must be followed by

the lower courts in similar cases/situations

Customs: regular pattern of social behavior accepted by a particular society

Islamic Law: applies to Muslims and is administered at state levels by a separate system

of courts called the Shariah Courts

Al Quran: words of Allah revealed to and transmitted by the Prophet Muhammad

(fundamental source of Islamic knowledge, and all sources of Islamic law must be in

essential agreement with Al Quran)

Sunnah: the utterance, action or indirect approval by the Prophet Muhammad (recorded

in the collections of Hadith)

Ijma: the unanimous agreement of the mujtahidun of the Muslim community of any

period following the demise of the Prophet Muhammad on any matter (persepakatan)

Qiyas: cases when something needs a legal ruling, but has not been clearly addressed

in any sources, judges may use analogy, reasoning and legal precedent to decide new

case law (often the case when a general principle can be applied to new situations)

Maslahah: benefit or interest

Maslahah mursalah: unrestricted public interest

Urf: customs

Ijitihad: personal effort made by a jurist in order to infer or interpret the Islamic law from

the Quran or Sunnah, for the purpose of addressing issues not specifically dealt within

the sources // careful opinion formed by somebody learned in the law // individual

reasoning by a jurist that could be used in order to find legal solutions to legal questions

that are not directly covered by the Quran and Sunnah

Istihsan: juristic preference // deciding in favour of public interest in order to dispel

hardship and to bring ease in a matter that is not otherwise prohibited by the shariah

(right to use private property as the owner wishes is modified by the need to protect the

natural environment)

Law Reports

Doctrine of stare decisis: stand by the decision (cases must be decided the same way

when their material facts are the same, as justice requires similar treatment of similar

cases, requires decisions of higher courts to be followed by lower courts)

Ratio decidendi: the reason or rationale for the decision // the decisions of higher courts

are binding on the courts below them

Obiter dicta: “by the way” comments made by the judges // opinions or other matters

expressed by the judge which are not directly relevant to the case before him (not

binding but persuasive)

Law report: a serial compilation of cases which normally contain facts, issues, decisions

and legal principles of cases // published judgements of cases (Malaysia: general law

reports, socialist law reports)

Case citatory: table of reported cases which have been referred, followed, distinguished

or overruled by later cases

Followed: a decision is followed by a court of lower or co-ordinate jurisdiction

Distinguished: a subsequent court chooses not to follow the original decision by

demonstrating that there are significant differences between the two cases, even though

the subsequent court is bound by the doctrine of stare decisis

Overruled: a superior court subsequently declares that the decision in the original case

is wrong

Referred: a subsequent court deals with the point of law in the original case without

comment on any correctness or otherwise of the original case

Case citation: a reference to a case in the law reports which generally includes names,

year, volume, abbreviation, first page

Digests of cases: provide the case law on a given topic in a highly compressed form and

summary of the legal principles which may be inferred from the cases

LEGAL RESEARCH Purpose

Basic rules for efficient use of the

law library

Basic legal approach which will be

useful in conducting effective legal

research

Importance

To ascertain laws on a given topic or

subject

To identify gaps and ambiguities in

law

To critically examine legal provisions

and principles

To undertake social audit of law with

a view to highlighting its pre-

legislative forces and post-legislative

impacts

To suggest reforms/developments in

law

Basic stages

Research Planning

Research Implementation

Research Presentation

Research Planning

1. Fact collection (WHO? WHAT?

WHEN? WHERE? WHY? HOW?)

2. Fact analysis (West System,

Brainstorming, Mind-mapping)***

3. Identification of factual and legal

issues (causes of action, special

facts, defences, relief, threshold

issues)

4. Formulation of research plan

(2)

West System

Parties

Objects

Places

Basis

Defences

Relief

Brainstorming

the process of recording all of the

words or possibilities that come to

mind without first evaluating them,

that are in any way related to the

subject

a discussion to get ideas or opinions

on a subject

matters which are relevant to the

facts of the case

Mind-mapping

a kind of diagram constructed based

on the central theme or main idea of

the facts

(4)

Once factual and legal issues have

been identified, determine the

relevant jurisdiction and the source

of the applicable law—i.e. is it a

state or federal? If state, which

state?

And source of law—is this issue

guided by case law only? Statute?

List the tools you intend to use and

the initial search terms you will use.

Research Implementation

identify problem(s) for resolution

identify relevant source materials

locate source materials

use source materials effectively

analyze research findings

apply findings to problems

identify further problems

Research Presentation

identify the recipient’s needs or

requirements

select an appropriate format, e.g.,

letter, memorandum, report

use clear and simple language

use appropriate language style such

as informatory, advisory, or

recommendation (depending on for

whom the research is being

conducted)

SOURCES OF LAW

Civil Law

Primary sources: Written, Unwritten

Law

Secondary sources

Primary Sources

Federal Constitution

Lays down powers of Federal and

State Governments

Fundamental rights of the individual

citizen

Applies to all states in Malaysia

Can only be amended by 2/3

majority of Parliament

State Constitution

Contains provisions pertaining to

state matters as provided under the

Federal Constitution including land

matters, agriculture, forestry, and

Islamic Law

Legislation

Parliament: Acts

State Legislative Council (except

Sarawak): Enactments

Sarawak: Ordinances

Not supreme, legislature must enact

according to the provisions of FC (and state

which one applies to the whole country,

state only)

Subsidiary Legislation

Authority other than Parliament and State

Legislative Council. It deals with the details

of every day matters which the legislature

has neither time nor expertise to enact laws.

English Law

Application of English law in Malaysia is

subject to 2 conditions:

There is no local law governing the

matter

The English law suits the local

circumstances

Judicial Precedent

Federal Court

Court of Appeal

High Court

Categories: binding (all decisions of higher

courts bind the lower courts, the high courts

are bound by their own

decisions)/persuasive (high court judges are

not bound to follow the decisions of another

high court judges, decisions from outside

Malaysian courts such as English courts)

Customs

Customs of the local inhabitants which have

been accepted as law by courts in Malaysia

(Adat Perpatih, Adat Temenggung, Chinese

and Indian customary laws, native customs

in Sabah and Sarawak)

Secondary Sources

Hansard

Legal textbook

Legal dictionary

Legal digest

Legal journal

Legal encyclopedia

Commentary

Treaty

Indexes

Periodicals

Islamic Law

Administered by the states (FC).

Primary sources: Quran, Sunnah, ijma’,

qiyas

Secondary sources: Maslahah mursalah,

urf, ijtihad, istihsan

Primary Sources

Al Quran

Regulates the life of Muslims in all aspects:

duties towards Allah, relations with one

another and environment

Sunnah

Embodies the entire pattern of the

life of Prophet including his acts,

sayings and silent approval of the

behavior of his companions

(qauliyyah, fiqliyyah, taqririyyah)

Clarify details of Quran

Ijma

Occurs in situations when Muslims

have not been able to find a specific

legal ruling in the Quran or Sunnah

and they seek a consensus on the

matter.

The Prophet once said that his

community, Muslims, would never

agree on an error.

Qiyas

Extension of a shariah value from an

original case to a new case, for the latter

has the same effective cause as the former.

Secondary Sources

Maslahah Mursalah

Imam Al-Ghazali: consists of

considerations which secure benefit

or prevent harm for the protection of

life, religion, intellect, lineage and

property.

In all matters where the shariah has

not made an express prescription,

laws should be proposed with a view

to the general well-being of the

people and to safeguard them from

any potential harm.

Urf

Muslim jurists placed a value on

preserving what is familiar to the

people in a certain place, based on

established tradition

Accepted as long as it does not

violate the shariah principles.

LAW REPORTS

General Law Reports

Malayan Law Journal [MLJ] 1932-current

General series of law reports Cases from Federal Court, Court of

Appeal and High Courts Oldest and the leading law report for

Malaysian and Singapore cases Contains cases as well as articles on

various aspects of law MLJ [2014] 11 volumes, 1-6 cover

current and landmark cases from FC, CA, HC, 7-11 cover recent high court cases

Each volume has the following indexes: general index, index of cases reported in the volume, index of cases judicially considered, subject index, index of statutes

Current Law Journal [CLJ] 1981, digest of cases, reporting full judgements from 1983-current

Monthly law report Contains case laws, legislations and

articles Index in annual volume: subject

index of reported judgements, index of cases reported by various courts, index of cases by legislation, index of cases judicially considered

All Malaysia Reports [AMR] 1992-current

Weekly law report Indexes in annual volume: table of

articles, table of cases reported, table of cases judicially considered, table of legislation judicially considered, subject index, register of terminology

Specialist Law Reports

Malaysian Labour Law Reports (MLLR)

1965-1982

Specialized report that covers the

decisions of the industrial court and

contains cases concerning industrial

disputes reported in MLJ.

Industrial Law Reports (ILR) 1983-current

Continuance on MLLR

Contains awards of the industrial

court from january 1982 onwards

Jurnal Hukum 1980

In malay

Contains exclusive articles on

Islamic law as well as cases decided

in shariah courts

Published by JAKIM

Laporan Shariah/Shariah Reports

[CLJ(Sya)] 2004

In English and malay

Contains shariah cases from

Malaysia and other Islamic

jurisdictions from around the world

Malaysian Tax Journal 1974

Published twice a year

By Inland Revenue Officers Union

Peninsular Malaya

Contains latest cases and articles

relating to Malaysian tax laws

English Law Reports

Primary English Law Reports

Law Reports 1865-current

Most authoritative reports

Should always be cited in preference

where there is a choice

Published by Incorporated Council of

Law Reporting

Cases are reported in four different

parts of different courts: appeal

cases (A.C.) by court of appeal and

house of lords, chancery division

(Ch.) by chancery division of high

court, queen’s bench (Q.B.) by

queen’s bench division of high court,

court of appeal and divisional court,

family division (Fam.) by family

division of high court

Weekly Law Reports 1953

By Incorporated Council of Law

Reporting

Contains comprehensive and up to

date coverage of all important house

of lords and privy council cases

All England Law Reports 1936

By Butterworths

Contains cases worthy of reporting

including significant judgements

from court of appeal and high courts

since 1995

CASE CITATION

Mallal’s Digest 1808

- Summarizes decisions of Malaysian

and Singapore superior courts and

appeals to the privy council

- Arranged according to subject

headings and citations are provided

after each entry

- Older most significant digest is

Mallal’s Digest of Malaysian and

Singapore Case Law

- Newer digest is Mallal’s Digest

Fourth Edition (12 volumes)

Digest of Recent Malaysian Judgements –

until 1984

- Annual digest

- Contains judgements of high court,

federal court and privy council

- Cases arranged according to subject

headings in alphabetical order

- Brief notes on the subject matters

are provided

Malaysian Digest

- Covers all recent decisions of the

federal court, high court Malaya and

high court sabah and Sarawak

- Contains brief facts of the case,

issues involved and the decision of

the court

- Contains subject index for easy

reference

LEGAL PERIODICALS

Contains:

Subject index

Author index or title index

Table of cases

Table of statutes

Index of book reviews

Table of abbreviations

Index to Periodical Articles: Humanities and

Social Sciences

- Published by National University of

Singapore

- Covers periodical literature on social

sciences, humanities, law, and other

disciplines from Singapore,

Malaysia, Brunei and other ASEAN

countries

Indexes on CD-ROM

- Published by National Library of

Malaysia

- Produced in one CD-ROM which

covers Malaysiana Periodicals

Index, Index to Malaysiana

Conferences and Malaysiana

Newspaper Index

- Provides good reference to articles

published in Malaysia

Indeks Majalah DBP

- Published by DBP

- Covers references to all articles

published by DBP

Index to Legal Periodicals of Malaysia and

Singapore 1932-1995

- Published by MLJ

- Important source of tracing journal

articles published in Malaysia and

Singapore

- Includes articles in Malay language

How to read an act?

1. Series

2. Act number: series of number for

acts enacted since the coming into

force of the Revision of Laws Act

1969

3. Title: title of the act

4. Long title: brief description of the

nature and intention of the legislation

5. Commencement date: date when

the act comes into force

6. Enacting formula: standard form of

words used to indicate that a bill has

been properly passed by all

constituent parts of the legislature

7. Short title: index-heading which

identifies the formal name of the act

8. Section, subsections: paragraphs in

the act which contain a different rule

of law

9. Marginal notes: short explanations of

the contents

10. Schedule: matters of detail which

are appended to the act (forms, lists,

tables)

How to read a state enactment?

1. Enactment number: the series of

number for enactments passed each

year

2. Assenting statement: standard form

of words used to indicate that the

state ruler has granted assent to the

enactment

3. Long title

4. Commencement date

5. Enacting formula

6. Short title

7. Sections, subsections

8. Marginal notes

9. Schedule

Types of reference sources

- Encyclopedia (“encyclopedia”s,

Microsoft Encarta, Halsbury’s laws

of England)

- Almanac

- Textbook (Chitty on Contracts,

Introduction to Malaysian Legal

System, Casebook on Torts)

- Yearbook (The Annual Register of

World Events)

- Handbook (how-to’s, user guides)

- Dictionary (istilah)

- Biographical Dictionary (Dictionary

of American Biography, Who’s Who)

- Atlas (Atlapedia Online)

- Bibliography (citations- APA, MLA,

etc)

- Directory (Yellow Pages)

- Gazetteer (“geographical”,

Geographical Dictionary, Geography

of Malaysia)