Lawyering Toolkit: Smarter Skills Pack

What are Journals

Law Journals contain articles that discuss and comment upon cases, legal topics and legislation.  You can have general legal journals and also journals that focus on specific areas of law. Legal Journals usually focus in on particular jurisdictions.

Finding Journals

You can find legal journal articles in the legal databases such as Westlaw IE or you can browse specific journals either online or in print in your library or organisation. Journals are often dedicated to themes.

Citing a Journal article

OSCOLA Ireland is recommended for citing in Ireland and its website explains how to cite a journal article. If your organisation or lecturer requires you to follow a particular citation style you must do so. If you are using a citation manager, be sure to check the output as you may have to edit the citations manually.

Examples of Irish Law Journals

These are just some examples of Irish Law Journals. Check your library at work or subscription databases such as Westlaw IE in your university to see if you have a subscription to these titles 

• Dublin University Law Journal
• Irish Criminal Law Journal
• Irish Law Times
• The Bar Review
• The Irish Jurist

What is a legal database?

A legal database is a collection of independent works data or other materials that relate to law which are arranged in a methodical and systematic way and can be accessed and searched electronically. Some databases are free and others require a subscription. Check with your institution or organization to find out what legal databases are available to you.

Databases

Databases can help you find cases from Irish, UK and other jurisdictions, legislation, journal articles, human rights information, commentary and legal history. Some databases are more geared towards a specific jurisdiction for example Westlaw IE covers Ireland.

The following are some links to tutorials on using different legal databases

Free Legal Resources

There are some useful legal resources that are available freely. Check the PDF below for links.

Approaching your Assignment

Law Formation in Ireland 

The main function of the Houses of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament, is to make laws for Ireland. The legislative organ established by the Constitution is the Oireachtas, which consists of two Houses and the President. Legislation is passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, Dáil Éireann and is signed into law by the President. Click here for more information on the legislative process.

Links

• The Oireachtas Legislative Process

• The Legislative Review Loop of Government Legislation

• Reading Legislation - A glossary

• Secondary Legislative Processes

• The Private Members' Bill (PMB) Process in Dáil Éireann

• Private Members' Bill (PMB's) Admissibility, Government Messages and detailed scrutiny (updated note)

 Learning Tip

Remember not everything in Law is available online, you do need to check paper sources eg Law Reports, Irish Law Journals, judgments that were not reported (also known as unreported judgments). 

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