Legal Research in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2nd edition

This second edition of Legal Research in Aotearoa New Zealand addresses the dramatic change in information publication and availability that has occurred since it was first published. The Open Access movement and the ubiquity of artificial intelligence (AI) with its ability to find, synthesise and even create information provide both significant opportunities and challenges for researchers. However, the fundamentals of legal research must be understood and mastered before these tools can be used effectively.

Aimed primarily for use by novice researchers and law students, the book provides a detailed examination of the process of legal research and is designed to dispel fear and angst that often accompanies the research activity. The book retains its three-part structure:

• Part 1 sets the parameters of the process: defining legal research and presenting its typologies; identifying the main types of legal research methodologies; providing frameworks for undertaking the legal research process; examining the skills required; detailing the requirements for research integrity; providing an introduction to the use of legal theory for legal research; and covering the practicalities of selecting a topic and refining a research question.

• Part 2 addresses the fundamentals of dealing with legal information: the specialist nature of legal language; types and formats of legal information; how law libraries present legal information; the use of open access information and artificial intelligence; and practicalities for searching in the online environment.

• Part 3 provides guidance for specialist areas of legal research: Kaupapa Māori legal research; Pacific legal research; law in other jurisdictions; public international law; and historical legal research. 

Authors: Mary-Rose Russell, Allan Beever, Natalie Baird, Becky Carlson, W John Hopkins, Linda Te Aho, Professor Leilani Tuala-Warren, Unaisi Oeranalagi Narawa, Amanda Turnbull, Stephanie Colling, Sara Roberts