Law subject guide: Databases

This page contains information about law databases, and collections of databases.

Major law database collections: NZ   

• Westlaw NZ: tips and links
• Lexis AdvanceNZ: tips and links
• CCH Intelliconnect: tips and links
• NZLII (free): tips and links

 Major law database collections: rest of world

• ICLR Online: link
• LexisAdvance US: tips and links
• Westlaw: tips and links
• WorldLII (free): tips and links

Major secondary source databases for law

• LegalTrac: tips and links - indexes journal articles; also has some full text
• HeinOnline: tips and links - full-text journals, plus treaties and treatises
• Making of Modern Law (MOML) (subscription - direct link) - fully searchable facsimiles of British law books, 1800-1926
• Eighteen Century Collections Online - digital images of books published during the 18th century. Includes history, literature, law , religion, fine arts, science, and more. 
• Nineteenth Century Collection Online 

CCHiKnowConnect (subscription) is the online equivalent of the looseleaf services we subscribe to.

Browse (click on the + symbols) to find these resources and more.

Titles include:

CCH Intelliconnect Help

ICLR (Incorporated Council of Law Reporting) is a not for profit organisation that was established in 1865 as the authorised publisher of the official series of The Law Reports for the Superior and Appellate Courts of England and Wales, for example, Queens Bench (QB), Appeal Cases (AC), Family (Fam) and Chancery (Ch).

As well as the official Law Reports, ICLR publishes the Weekly Law Reports, the Industrial Cases Reports, the Business Law Reports, the Public and Third Sector Law Reports and the Consolidated Index to leading law reports.

HeinOnline comprises collections of databases including: Law Journal Library; Legal Classics; English Reports (full reprint 1220-1867); Treaties and Agreements Library.

Check the HeinOnline wiki for user training guides and videos.

HeinOnline tips for advanced users

• you can create your own MyHein account - useful for bookmarks, and exporting to EndNote
• you can use ScholarCheck, which links you to articles that cite the article you are reading

LegalTrac indexes major law journals (1400+ titles - some fulltext) from USA, Australia, NZ, Canada and UK, by subject, author, title, statute and case name. Date range: 1980 - current.

LegalTrac tips

• a simple keyword search usually works
• deselect the limit results " to documents with full text" to increase your chances
• use the subject headings. If you find a useful-looking record, check the Related Works (on the left-hand side) - you can link to those subject headings or use them as additional search terms.
• Article linker often takes you to the full text. If it doesn't, search the library catalogue for the title of the journal that contains the article you want

Most NZ content is here. However, some content is in the Lexis Advance US version. Check both.

Lexis Advance (NZ) databases (subscription) include full-text legislation; case law databases (indexes and full text); and commentary, being the online loose-leaf services. Note: we subscribe to a selection of  LexisNexis NZ products, but not to all of them.

The LexisNexisNZ  interface is about to be retired, please access Lexis Advance. The content is unchanged in the new environment.

Key databases include:

• Laws of New Zealand (subscription); includes linked cross-references to Halsbury's Laws of England
• New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR) (subscription) - browse or search
• LinxPlus (subscription) - indexes NZ case law from the mid-1980s, often with full-text PDFs; also indexes journal articles
• New Zealand Law Journal (subscription) (from 2002)

Subject-based publications on the Lexis Advance home page include :

• Commercial Law in New Zealand
• Family Law Service (NZ); New Zealand Family Law Reports; New Zealand Family Law Journal
• Fisher on Matrimonial and Relationship Property
• Hall's Sentencing (NZ)
• Heath and Whale on Insolvency
• Hinde McMorland & Sim Land Law in New Zealand
• Mazengarb's Employment Law (NZ)
• Morison's Company Law (NZ); Morison's Securities Law
• Sim's Court Practice (NZ)

Miscellaneously useful things that aren't obvious from the start page include :

• Halsbury's Laws of England, and Laws of Australia - find them via the Big red search box - just change the country flag first.
• Practical guidance: Family

Lexis Advance Help

• Tutorials and Guides: Short videos, and longer tutorials, plus opportunities to attend webinars.

Lexis is big. Overwhelmingly big. Breathe deeply. Take your time.

Imagine Lexis Advance US is a meta- database - a database of databases.

As a general proposition you can browse collections and open folders until you get to the database you want. At any stage, you can use the red  search box, or use the Advanced search template.

If you know the publication title, type it into the main search box, then search within that 'universe' for the author, article title, or idea.

Note, some NZ, Australian and UK content will be in this US Research collection, and some will be in the NZ collection. Use both.

Use the information icons  (i-in-a-box) - they tell you the scope of each database and often give you hints on how to search

NZLII (New Zealand Legal Information Institute) is free. And valuable - it contains full-text legislation, case law, law commission material and pretty much anything else they can get their hands on.

Westlaw Classic is big. Overwhelmingly big. Breathe deeply. Take your time.

As a general proposition you can browse collections and open folders until you get to the database you want. Non-US content is in the International Materials section.

Or, if you are looking for something specific, like a journal article, type the title of the journal into the main search box, select, and then search for the particular author, article title, case name, or idea, within that 'universe'.

Westlaw tips

• use the information icons  (i-in-a-circle) - they tell you the scope of each database and often give you hints on how to search

Westlaw NZ includes full-text legislation; case law databases (indexes and full text); and commentary [ie] online loose-leaf services. Note: we subscribe to a wide selection of products, but not to all of them. Westlaw NZ is produced by Thomson Reuters. Some of their sources are also under the name Brookers.

Key collection:

• Regulations / Statutory Instruments - full text
• Statutes  - full text; current; with links to case law and commentary
• LINX  - indexes NZ case law from the mid-1980s; also indexes journal articles

Practice areas (legislation, case law, commentary) include, but are not limited to:

• Court practice and procedure: includes  High Court Rules and  McGechan on Procedure
• Company and Securities Law
•  Adams on Criminal Law including Evidence, Sentencing; Misuse of Drugs
• Employment Law; Personal Grievances; Personal Injury in NZ
• Environment and RM: includes Salmon Environmental Law
• Family: includes Child Law; Incapacity; Adult Relationshps etc
• Torts : latest edition of Todd on Torts, regularly updated.


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WestlawNZ Help

•  Tutorials and Guides : includes videos and guides, plus opportunities to attend webinars.

The World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII) splices together content from the individual Legal Information Institutes including AustLII (Australasian), BAILII (British and Irish), CanLII (Canadian), HKLII (Hong Kong), LII (Cornell) (USA), PacLII (Pacific Islands), Wits University School of Law; as well as international law material.

These short and simple videos introduce you to the mechanics of searching for legal resources. You can also ask for help, at the Desk.