Principles of law publication
This page provides the general principles guiding the publication of judgments on the web.
What do we publish?
A Legal Information Institute publishes primary legal materials needed to conduct core legal research as well as appropriate secondary legal materials, such as law journals, law reform commission publications, and academic and other research papers.
When organising a national collection of primary legal materials, the LII will be guided by the doctrine of sources of law applicable to the national legal system.
Therefore, the national collection will focus on sourcing and publishing the following in the order listed:
The Constitution
Legislation, primary and subsidiary, which may further be organised into subject areas collections
Case law in order of importance:
Apex court (e.g. Supreme Court)
Court of Appeal
High Courts, including distinctions into Commercial, Criminal, Civil, etc. divisions
Decisions of special courts, tribunals or commissions
Completeness and Timelines
LIIs publish ALL judgments handed down within 24 hours of handing down.
An LII does not distinguish between Reportable and Non-Reportable judgments. ALL judgments and orders are published online.
Historical judgments are also of importance to legal researchers. The digitisation of historical judgments should be captured in a digitisation plan.
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