CaseBase Cases
CaseBase is an online case citator, accessed via the Lexis+ Australia platform. When judgments are supplied to Lexis, editors analyse and index each judgment, which will save you valuable research time.
CaseBase lists mostly Australian cases, however overseas cases are also included if they are relevant to Australian law.
Searching CaseBase Cases
- Go to the Lexis+ Australia database homepage via the Library A-Z Databases.
- If CaseBase Cases is not listed under My Pinned Publications on the Lexis+ Australia homepage, click on Publications and start typing CasesBase in the Publications search box. Then select CaseBase Cases from the drop down menu.
- On the results screen select CaseBase Cases to open the Advanced Search screen.
- After opening the Advanced Search form, type your terms into the relevant fields.
- Start with a few selected terms. If you get too many results, go back and add additional terms.
Using CaseBase Cases Advanced Search
Here is an example of searching in CaseBase Cases using three commonly used fields:
- Terms – use this field when you want to search for keywords
- Citation – use this field when you have a known citation to a case
- Case Name – use this field when you only know the parties' names to the case.
Click on the + icons below to view sample search fields and examples of how to search in those fields.
CaseBase Cases search results
To refine or modify your CaseBase Cases search results:
- You can narrow your results using the filters in the left panel. For example, you can choose a jurisdiction or a legal topic or a time frame.
- You can refine your results by adding more search terms in the Search Within Results box. For example, privilege.
- You can change how your results are sorted (using the drop-down menu on the right).
Note
By adding more search terms you narrow your search parameters. This will retrieve more relevant cases from the original results list.
Saving your search results
After you have finalised your search results, the case records will all be listed in the centre of the screen. You can save your results list in a folder to access them at a later stage. To do this, select the folder icon above the first result.
Viewing a CaseBase case record
In your search results list, click on the title of the case to link through to the full record.
The CaseBase Case Record provides you with either a law report citation and/or the medium neutral citation of the case, the judge(s), catchwords (like subject headings) and a digest (similar to an abstract). It may provide information about subsequent cases or journal articles which have considered that case. It will also list any cases or legislation that the case considered.
Click on the + icons below to view an example of the CaseBase case record.
Note
If the law report is published by Lexis Nexis, the full-text of the judgment may be linked from the CaseBase record. If not, note down the abbreviation of the law report and you can search for it in the Library's Legal Abbreviations guide.
CaseBase signals and annotations
CaseBase signals are based on case annotations prepared by the CaseBase editors. They are derived from both the procedural history of a case and indicate the subsequent judicial consideration of a case. Signals are small colour-coded graphics that appear before the case name to either identify the subsequent judicial consideration or indicate citation information.
Click on the + icons below to learn about each of the signals.
To view a full list and description of CaseBase signals or annotations, go to the Lexis+ Australia CaseBase Signals & Annotations guide.
Lexis+ Australia Training and Support
For more help using the Lexis+ Australia database, use the 'Help' menu or watch some video tutorials on the support page.
