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NOTES ON LEGAL RESEARCH ROLES OF AUTHORITY
(Atty. L. Del Rosario) Primary A source of law a court must rely on
Authority when reaching a decision, such an
enacted law (statute, ordinances and
I. INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH:
case laws) that governs the legal
“Legal Research” à refers to the process of
question being addressed, or an
identifying and retrieving information necessary to
opinion of a higher court in the
support legal decision-making.
jurisdiction that addressed the same or
a similar legal question and facts.
“Legal Analysis” à refers to the process of
determining how the law applies to the problem. Secondary Any authority a court is not bound to
Authority consider or follow but may consider or
follow when reaching a decision, such
Purposes of Legal Research:
as an opinion of a court in another
• Necessary for solving legal problems.
state on the same or similar issue, or a
• To find the “Authority” that will aid in finding a
secondary authority source
solution to a legal problem.
(encyclopedia article, legal dictionary
definitions, legal books, and so on)
Legal Research vs. Research in other Context:
• Legal research needs to establish a clear
understanding of the goals of research in the Mandatory vs. Persuasive Authority:
legal context, and of the various types of legal • Mandatory Authority – An authority that the court
materials and their interrelationships. MUST FOLLOW.
• Legal research needs comprehensiveness in • Persuasive Authority – An authority that the court
primary authority research. MAY OPTIONALLY FOLLOW.
o When presented with a legal issue, the
researcher must endeavor to locate any 3-Step Process in determining whether an
potentially relevant authority which
would be binding in the applicable
enacted law applies to govern a legal
jurisdiction. question or issue before a court is
addressed:
Legal Authority à refers to the “authority” that will • IDENTIFY  ALL  THE  LAWS  THAT  MAY  GOVERN  THE  
aid in finding a solution to a legal authority. It is the QUESTION  
concept of authority thst drives much of legal • Requires  locating  all  statutes  or  laws  that  possibly  
research. Step  1   govern  the  legal  question.  

Challenges in Legal Research: • IDENTIFY  THE  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  LAW  OR  STATUTE:  
1. selecting appropriate legal authorities; and • It  is  necessary  to  identify  these  elements  whether  the  
2. selecting appropriate search terms to find the Step  2   requirements  made  by  law  are  met.  
legal rule the legal rules in the resource that is
being searched.
• APPLY  FACTS  OF  THE  CASE  TO  THE  ELEMENTS  
• To  determine  how  the  law  applies.  afterwards,  the  
Types of Legal Authorities:
1. Primary Legal Authorities
Step  3   enacted  law  governs  the  legal  question.    

2. Secondary Legal Authorities – main purpose is

to explain and locate the primary authorites

Primary Legal Secondary Legal Primary Authority is not always Binding:

Authorities
The law itself:
• Constitutions
• Statutes
• Ordinances
• Administrative rules
and regulations
• Court decisions
Authorities
A source a court may rely
on that is not the law.
• Legal books
• Legal encyclopedias
• Restatements of the
Law
• Treatises
• Law review articles.
Issue about Jurisdiction:
• If a court wants to see citations to cases, statutes,
and regulations (primary authority), it does not
mean that court has to follow it.
• i.e. – A case law of the US Supreme Court is a
primary authority in the USA. If that case law is
useful in a case being decided in the Philippines
SC, the latter court does not necessarily have to
follow the US Supreme Court decision. à In this
instance, the US Supreme Court Decision,
although a Primary Authority, is a persuasive

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authority in the eyes of the Philippines SC
because of jurisdiction. The Legal Research Process:
Sources of Authorities: Analyze
 the
 facts
 and
 formulate
 a
 preliminary
 statement
 of
 issues
 

1. Legislature
• House of Representative and Philippine
Senate
Familiarize  yourself  with  the  court  structure  of  the  jurisdiction  
• Laws passed by congress are “Statutes” and
some statues are arranged in subject order
in Codes (RPC, Civil Code, etc.)
Conduct  background  research  to  get  an  overview  of  the  subject  area,  identify  
2. SC of the Philippines issues  and  terms,  ad  get  clues  to  primary  sources  
• Court decision forms part of the law of the
land. (See. Art. 8, Civil Code)
Search  for  legal  authority  using  appropriate  methods  of  updating  
3. Administrative Bodies
• Usually in the form of Implementing Rules
and Regulations.
Read  and  evaluate  primary  authorities  
4. Local government Units
• LGUs enact ordinances and laws of local
application by virtue of delegated authority
coming from the Philippine Congress.
Make  sure  cases  are  still  good  law  and  you  have  the  current  version  of  statutes.  

5. President of the Republic

• Presidential Decrees, Executive Orders, etc.
but the Chief Executive cannot enact laws or ReIine  Analysis  and  Formulate  Conclusion  
statutes because he/she only executes it.

Forms of Legal Information When should you stop?

a) Primary Sources – publications which contain
the original decisions and actions of legislative, When  you  have   When  you  are  
judicial, and administrative bodies. used  a  variety  of   Iinding  the  same  
appropriate   authorities  over  
sources   and  over  agains  
b) Secondary Sources – publications that
describe, explain, or analyze the law. These are
typically prepared by scholars, lawyers, and When  you  have   When  cost  
other commentators, and have no official legal completed  the   exceeds  beneIits  
authority. steps  in  the   (ie.  you  run  out  
model   When   of  time)  
should  
SECONDARY
PRIMARY SOURCES you  stop?  
SOURCES
Authorities Source Dictionaries
Constitutions Legislative Annotations
Statutes Legislative Encyclopedias
Jurisprudence or Complexity of Modern Legal Research:
Judiciary Law Review Articles
Case Laws • Computer research has introduced the need to be
Administrative completely current, and to develop new skill sets.
Executive Periodical Publications
Regulations • Dramatic increase in the volume of case law and
Executive Order Executive Treatises and texts statutory material.
Attorney general • Secondary sources have grown exponentially.
Treaties Executive
opinions • The law of other jurisdictions must often be
Presidential researched,
Executive Restatements
Decrees
• The days when counsel could be reasonably sure
Foreign Sources
Municipal Laws they knew the law without having to look it up has
Executive Form Books &
and Ordinances long passed.
Practice Guides