Case law refers to legal principles established in decisions made by judges in court cases. These decisions form part of common law and are an important source of law in Australia and many other jurisdictions.
You might use case law to:
- Understand how legislation has been interpreted by the courts
- Identify precedent that supports a legal argument
- Explore judicial reasoning in particular areas of law
Case citators
A case citator is a tool that helps you locate, interpret, and understand case law. It goes beyond the full text of the case by showing how it has been treated and referenced.
A citator usually includes:
- Catchwords or headnotes summarising legal issues
- Cases and legislation cited
- Words and phrases judicially considered
- Citing cases and the treatment applied (e.g. followed, distinguished)
- Links to journal articles discussing the case (when available)
Where to find case law
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Westlaw Australia - Cases This link opens in a new windowSearch the case citator and digest in Westlaw AU, containing reported and unreported judgments from all jurisdictions in Australia. Use the advanced search to find cases by keywords, citation, case name, court, judge, legislation, or words and phrases that have been judicially considered. Use KeyCite to browse cases by point of law.
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CaseBase via Lexis+ This link opens in a new windowCase citator in Lexis+ containing reported and unreported judgments from all jurisdictions in Australia. Use it to search for cases by keywords, citation, case name, court, judge, legislation, or words and phrases that have been judicially considered.
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CCH iKnowConnect This link opens in a new windowSearch individual practice areas then cases for subject-specific case reports. CCH editors compile headnotes to provide the context of the case for the specific area of law.
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NSW CaselawThe New South Wales Department of Justice repository for cases from NSW Courts and Tribunals.
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AustLII : Australasian Legal Information Institute This link opens in a new windowCurrent and historical cases from all jurisdictions in Australia and a case citator (LawCite). AustLII is open access and contains publicly available content, including historical content which has entered the public domain.
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JadeCurrent and historical cases from all jurisdictions in Australia. Jade is open access and contains publicly available content, including historical content which has entered the public domain. Register for free to access annotations and alerts.
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vLex Justis This link opens in a new windowCase citator for the United Kingdom, Ireland and European Union from 1163 onwards, and select case law from commonwealth countries. Use it to search for cases by keywords, citation, case name, court, judge, legislation title, or words of phrases have been judicially considered. The precedent map provides a visual representation of the treatment of cited and citing cases.
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The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting : ICLR.3 This link opens in a new windowAuthorised reports for the Superior and Appellate Courts of England and Wales from 1865, divided into four categories: Appeal Cases (AC),Chancery Division (Ch), Queen's Bench Division (QB) and Family (Fam).
Westlaw has three databases containing international case law: Westlaw International includes cases from Canada, the European Union, Hong Kong, Korea, United Kingdom and other jurisdictions. Westlaw China has cases in Chinese language and the English translations. Westlaw US has cases at both the state and federal levels. To search in a particular jurisdiction, choose the relevant database from the links below.
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Westlaw International This link opens in a new windowFeatures case reports, legislation and law journals for Canada, the European Union, Hong Kong, Korea, United Kingdom and other jurisdictions.
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Westlaw US This link opens in a new windowFeatures case reports, legislation, law journals and many other resource types at both Federal and State levels.
Search tips:
- Use party names (e.g. Donoghue v Stevenson) when known.
- Combine keywords and legal concepts (e.g. “duty of care” AND negligence).
- Filter results by jurisdiction, court, or date.
- Use the citator to check treatment – is it still good law?
Want to understand the difference between reported and unreported cases, and how to cite them properly?
Go to Law reports
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