ASSIGNMENT 1

CASE FINDING NOTES

LEGAL RESEARCHER CODE: LF- 15311

 WHAT IS A CASE LAW AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?

 Binding decisions of Superior Court that is governed by a doctrine known as stare
decisis that means judgement of a superior court are binding on junior courts or
subordinate courts.
 According to Article 141of Indian Constitution it states that judgement of superior
Court is binding on High Courts.
 Section 41, 42 and 43 of the Indian Evidence Act are about the relevancy and effect of
certain judgements while dealing with legal case laws.
 Generally, they are referred for interpretation of statutes. For example, when you
read a bare Act there are certain terminologies/ phrases which are not easily
desaparable. So, you need to refer to a case law what this phrase actually means.
 Several case laws like Vishakha and D.K Basu Case wherein certain guidelines are
given by superior Court that are mandatory for the compliance.
 Used for pleading and drafting legal drafts.

 MODES OF CASE LAWS

 Online Finding/Analysis of Case laws includes Databases, Libraries,
Portals, Engines, AI’s such as Manupatra, SCC, eSCR, Indian Kanoon and
Case Mine etc.
 Offline Finding/ Analysis of Case Laws includes Books, Commentaries,
Manuals, AIR/SCC Journals etc.

 CASE FINDING BASICS

 Keywords= Provision+ Purpose
 Boolean Method
 Context+ Use
 Quick Reading= Headnotes/ FIP/ AI
 WHAT ARE KEYWORDS
 Firstly, keywords in law are specific words or phrases that are used to search
for and identify legal concepts, principles, statutes, and case law. These
keywords are essential for legal research and are used to locate relevant
information in legal databases, statutes, regulations, and court opinions.
 For Example, according to the facts of the case it mentions the petitioner was
tortured in custody and he approached Article 32 of the Indian Constitution to
get the personal relief and Compensation as well.
 Keywords over here would be Article 32, Indian Constitution, Compensation,
violation of fundamental rights and Habeas Corpus, Supreme Court, custodial
torture
 The legal issue would be that whether SC can grant compensation for
custodial torture under article 32 and whether writ of habeas corpus shall be
issued in this case.
 Secondly, it could include Doctrinal Sources like Books/ Commentaries such
as Basic Structure Doctrine.
 Thirdly, it includes common legal Terminologies which are used by Judges
such as Gender Discrimination that has been used in NALSA VS UNION OF
INDIA.
 Fourthly, Purpose/ Context is important to create foundation such as over
here to get compensation is vital otherwise judgement would not be effective.

 HOW TO FIND CASE LAWS

 To use official site such as ESCR Judgements and Orders. For example, use
keywords such as Article 32, indian constitution, custodial torture,
compensation wherein you can filter it by Find in via judge’s name and the
bench of judges, sections and citations
 Headnotes brief you what case deals about and what are the important SC
judgements and whether is related to your search or not.
 The official site displays:
 The command would be:
 HOW TO READ BULKY JUDGEMENTS?
 It can be referred by either headnotes or find in feature. For instance, where
compensation was granted and custodial torture had been used wherein you
find one relevant case laws you can get other case laws in relation.

 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RATIO DECIDENDI AND OBITER

DICTA?
 Ratio decidendi and obiter dicta are two terms used in legal reasoning to
describe different parts of a judicial decision. Ratio decidendi means “the
reason for deciding” and refers to the legal principle or rule that is applied to
the facts of the case and determines the outcome. Obiter dicta means “things
said by the way” and refers to any additional remarks or opinions that are not
essential for the decision, but may provide guidance or clarification on
related issues.
 The main difference between ratio decidendi and obiter dicta is that ratio
decidendi is binding on lower courts as a precedent, while obiter dicta is not.
However, obiter dicta may still have persuasive authority and influence the
reasoning of future judges. For example, in this article, the author explains
how the High Court of Australia sometimes treats obiter dicta as binding,
especially when it comes from a unanimous or majority judgment.

 AI TOOL?
 Harpa AI Chrome Extension (content+ context+ Instruction)
 Poe.Com

 ChatGPT
  WHAT IS BOOLEAN METHOD?
 By using Boolean method, it is used to return values such as AND/OR/NOT.
 For example,

 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BOOLEAN OPERATORS?

 ARTICLE 32 AND ARTICLE 31 uses both operations within and operator

 Article 32 OR Article 31uses either of the operations within OR operator
 Article 32 NOT Article 31 wherein all article 32 reaches but not Article 21.