Find judicial considerations of a case
Once you have found a useful case it will be important to research for other cases that have judicially considered that case. It is also useful to research what cases that case has considered.
Case Example:
Telebooth Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd [1994] 1 VR 337
In this example the name of the case is Telebooth Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd. The citation for the case is [1994] 1 VR 337.
The best way to search for a known case in a case citator is to use the citation. Using a citation is the quickest way to find a known case. It can be either a law report citation or a medium neutral citation. In most databases you only need to type in the citation (without quotation marks or additional punctuation).
Finding cases judicially considered in different databases
Below is a selected list of databases that can be searched by case citation. Click on the plus icons for how to search effectively in those different databases.
Finding cases judicially considered in CaseBase Cases (Lexis+ Australia)
CaseBase Cases is an online case citator, accessed via the Lexis+ Australia platform. CaseBase editors analyse and index each judgment, which makes this database a good place to start finding cases which have judicially considered other cases.
CaseBase lists mostly Australian cases, however overseas cases are also included if they are relevant to Australian law.
- Use the CaseBase Cases Advanced Search (on Lexis+ Australia) and enter the case citation into the Citation field.
- Click on the case name in your results list to view the full CaseBase case record.
- Once you are in the full case record, select the Cases referring to this case link. CaseBase lists the cases in reverse date order.
You may also see a graph where you can narrow the results by jurisdiction and treatment filters.
Tip
For more case citator information, explore Researching Cases – CaseBase Cases (Lexis+ Australia).
Finding cases judicially considered in Westlaw Australia
Westlaw Australia contains full-text unreported judgments from Australian courts and tribunals and Australian authorised law reports.
- Use the Westlaw Australia homepage. Select Cases under Content Types
- From the Cases page select the Advanced option next to the Search bar.
- Enter the case citation in the Citation field, using double quotes around the full citation (omitting round or square brackets).
- The fields will be automatically connected in the main search bar. Select the search icon to run the search.
- Click on the case name in your results list to view the full case record.
- From the full-text Document page for the case, navigate to the Citing References tab and select Cases.
- To view what cases this case has considered navigate to the Table of Authorities tab.
