6 Tools for Legal Research
Catherine Doughty and Theresa Buller
There are several online free and subscription legal databases that can be used for legal research in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The most well-known are:
- CCH iKnowConnect;
- HeinOnline;
- Lexis Advance;
- the New Zealand Legislation website;
- NZLII;
- Westlaw New Zealand.
Which ones you use depends on what legal information you are looking for, personal preference and – for subscription databases – what access you have through your university or workplace.
Subscription Legal Databases
CCH iKnowConnect, HeinOnline, Lexis Advance and Westlaw New Zealand are all subscription databases. This means that a library needs to pay for access to this content.
Each database is owned by a different legal publisher and may contain legislation, cases and secondary sources, such as books, journal articles, commentaries and legal encyclopaedias. As each database is owned by different legal publishers, there may be some identical content, but some content (particularly reported cases and secondary sources) will be different.
It is best to access these databases via links provided by your university or workplace library. These links will verify you as a student or employee of the subscription holder and give you access to each database.
Free Legal Databases
Both the New Zealand Legislation website and NZLII are free websites that provide access to legislation, unreported cases, law reform material and secondary sources.
The New Zealand Legislation website is a free government website maintained by the Parliamentary Counsel Office. On this site you can find official copies of New Zealand Acts, Bills and secondary legislation. It has all versions and amendments of New Zealand legislation in force or enacted since 2008.
NZLII is a freely accessible database of full-text New Zealand judgments (largely unreported but with a few early reported series), legislation, treaties, journals and law-reform material. It is constantly being added to and has an extensive but incomplete collection of judgments from the courts, tribunals and authorities around New Zealand.
