Developing strong research, analytical and legal writing skills for students, scholars and future legal professionals.
Legal research is a systematic process of identifying, locating, analysing and interpreting legal materials relevant to a legal issue.
Effective legal research helps students understand statutes, judicial decisions, legal principles, reports, journals and other authoritative materials. It also develops critical thinking, legal reasoning, analytical ability and professional legal writing skills.
Students can use different categories of legal materials depending on the nature and purpose of their research.
Study judicial decisions, precedents, ratio decidendi, obiter dicta and judicial reasoning.
Examine constitutional provisions, Acts, rules, regulations, amendments and statutory provisions.
Explore scholarly articles, case comments, legislative comments and contemporary legal research.
Research Law Commission reports, committee reports, government reports and other official documents.
Use authoritative commentaries, manuals, legal dictionaries and digests for deeper study.
Use reliable online repositories and legal databases for locating current legal materials.
Different research problems require different research approaches and methods.
Analysis of legal principles, statutes, judicial decisions and other legal authorities.
Examines the relationship between law, society, institutions and social realities.
Uses observations, surveys, interviews and other evidence-based research methods.
Compares legal systems, laws, institutions or approaches across jurisdictions.
Clearly define the legal issue or question that needs to be investigated.
Formulate focused questions and, where appropriate, research objectives or hypotheses.
Locate relevant statutes, judgments, reports, journals and other reliable sources.
Compare authorities, identify legal principles and critically examine the available material.
Organise the research findings and develop reasoned conclusions.
Present the research clearly with appropriate citations, references and bibliography.
Legal research also strengthens the practical academic skills required for law study and professional legal work.
Students may develop research papers, case comments, legislative comments, seminar papers and other forms of academic legal writing.
Develop structured research papers based on a clear legal issue, methodology and analysis.
Critically examine important judicial decisions and their legal and social implications.
Develop clear, precise and well-supported legal arguments using appropriate authorities.
Legal research is an essential foundation for academic excellence, professional practice and meaningful contribution to the legal system.
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