Unit V:

 Analysis of case laws, finding case laws

 socio-legal research
 moot court and research
 Interpretation of statutes (refer part 2)
 citation methods, methods of citation (refer special lecture by Sri. Chidananda)
 articles on contemporary legal issues, essays (….general information)
 field visit and submission of report (….general information)

Case Law Analysis

- Case laws consist of the rules and principles stated and acted upon by the judges in
giving decisions.
- Like English law (Common law), Indian law is also largely a system of case law
- Case law technique – is the method of finding out ratio decidendi and obiter dictum
- Case law consists of exclusive judicial decisions and decision of the courts based on
legislations
- A lawyer/student while moot courts should have necessary skills to ascertain the
ration decidendi of a case
- In the course of arguments, he should cite a precedent and the ration decidendi thereof
- He/she should convince how the cited ratio decidendi is relevant to his submission
- The method of finding out ratio decidendi of a case is nothing but a process of
abstraction
- In simple, the process of abstraction simply means a process of generalisation
- A/t Doctrine of Precedent – precedent means anything which is said or done in the
past which provides a guidance for the future (Literally precedents means earlier
decisions)
- Ratio decidendi signifies a legal principle based on which the case is decided
- A case disposed of by a judge consists of two decisions – Concrete and General
- Concrete decisions are binding on between the arties
- The general decisions consists of a legal principle which needs to be applied in all
similar subsequent cases
- The precedent – the ratio decidendi etc requires identification of the most important
parts of the judgement. They are:
1) A statement of the significant facts of the dispute before the Court
2) A statement of a relevant procedural details such as the explanation of the legal
nature of the controversy and of the remedy sought
3) A statement of narrow legal question or issues that the Appellate Court was asked
to resolve
4) A brief statement of the Appellate Courts decision, both procedural and
substantive
5) An explanation of Court’s reasoning in reaching its decision

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Model Case Law Analysis
- Donhogue v. Stevenson
o Facts – material facts – serving the ginger beer in an opaque bottle
o Contentions – buyer & seller – no privity of contract
o The Court laid down Neighbourhood Principle – the Court laid down a law
that a manufacture, for his negligence, is liable to pay to the consumer in case
of an inquiry
o Ratio decidendi – a manufacturer, for his negligence, is liable to the ultimate
consumer in case of an injury and the neighbourhood principle which signifies
that a person for his negligence resulting in injury is liable to his neighbour
which he could have foreseen
- Rylands v. Fletcher
o Facts – material fact – construction of reservoir
o Ratio decidendi – the Principle of Strict Liability – if a person who brings a
dangerous substance to his premises, should it escape and cause injury to
another person, will be strictly held liable notwithstanding the fact that he has
exercised reasonable care
o The rule is subject to certain exceptions such as – Act of God, Plaintiff the
wrongdoer, Consent, Act by third person, Statutory authority
- Wilkinson v. Downtown - the process of abstraction can be better understood with
the case
o Facts – practical joke – defendant told a lie to the plaintiff, a woman that her
husband met with an accident and as a result of that, he had lot both of his legs
below the knee and now in coma
o The defendant told a lie to create fright in the mind of the plaintiff – as a result
the plaintiff suffered nervous shock
o Ratio decidendi – a person commits a tort by his misrepresentation which is
likely to cause or does cause physical or mental harm to another person –
nervous shock
o Highest level of abstraction occurs when the words ‘to tell a lie’ (deceit) are
replaced by the words ‘to do any act’ (bringing consequences such as nervous
shock)
Components of Case Law Analysis
- Cause title
- Citation (case information, decided on, judges, cases referred, legal provisions
involved)
- Background of the case
- Brief facts
- Arguments advanced
- Contentions
- Judicial interpretation
- Judgement
- Critical analysis

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 - Concluding remarks
- Footnotes and Bibliography
Activity: Ratlam Municipality v. Vardhichand
- Facts – judgement – ratio decidendi
- Public nuisance – S. 133 of Cr.P.C

Sample case law analysis – files

Concluding remarks

Moot Court Research

- A law student should be trained in the law schools itself by inculcating in them a
problem-solving approach. It can be done through in-house clinical legal education
- By organising moot court competitions, trial advocacy, client counselling and mock
trials
- Moot court societies in law schools organise mooting activities both internal and
external
- It is necessary to lay down a strong foundation for a sound mooting culture in the
beginning itself
Moots
- Hockey players practice passing the ball – short passes, long passes, drag flicking,
shooting the ball at the goal post
- Cine artists too go for many rehearsals before the final shoot
- Cricketers practice in the nets etc
- Fluency and presentation skills are matters of great significance to lawyers more than
anybody else
- The practice of law demands both verbal and drafting skills
- Students by taking part in moots can acquire the required communication skill and
drafting skill by drafting the memorials
- Participation in moots calls for a good deal of research
- It provides an opportunity to the student to hone their research skill
- Moot in ordinary sense – signifies something debatable, disputable, or having an
element of uncertainty
- It is a mock judicial proceeding set up to examine a hypothetical case as an academic
exercise
- It is a simulation exercise
- A court room atmosphere is artificially developed – having characteristics of real
court hall
- The very purpose of the simulations to familiarize the students with the judicial
mechanism and court room manners
- BCI regulations on Moot Court
- Mooting exercises enable the students to learn the art of persuasion

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 - The moot problems are imaginary cases involving question of law
- Parties – petitioners and respondent etc
- Win or lose does not matter – participation in moot competition itself is a great
beginning for a great future
Conduct of moot court
- An ideal moot problem should have four issues relating to important questions of law
– two issues each are taken up by the respective counsels
- The participants are required to prepare memorials both for the appellant/petitioner
and respondents – these memorials are exchanges
- Judges briefing to be done – copy of the problem to be provided to the judges in
advance
- Mooting is a time bound exercise – generally each side is given 40 to 45 minutes –
generally 5 minutes are given for rebuttal – participants can decide their respective
timings
- The counsel for appellant/petitioner begins the arguments on the instruction of the
judge
- He should request the judge in a polite language – Your Lordship, may I proceed to
argue… if the honourable court is aware of the facts
- It is important to follow the court manners
- Both counsels and judges should observe punctilios of court procedure and conduct
(punctilios means – the right discipline and behaviour expected of the members of
the bench (judges) and the bar (advocates)
- The counsels should follow dress code – of an advocate in white and black
- Judges shall also follow their dress code
- The opposite party counsel shall be addressed as ‘My learned friend’ or ‘the learned
counsel’
- Submissive language must be used by the counsels in the course of argument
- The judges shall be addressed as – ‘My Lord’, ‘Your Lordship’, “Your Ladyship’ also
instead of you – use ‘May it please Your Lordship’, at the time of submission – ‘Your
Lordship, it is most respectfully submitted…’
- The counsels should not commit breach of etiquette
- Arguments should not be read out – as far as possible – it should be ex-tempore –
written materials can be referred occasionally, as an aid to memory, if it is inevitable
- Since time is important – the main points should be presented as impressively as
possible
- Establish eye contact with the judges – voice must be kept at an appreciable level –
modulation of voice is also essential to avoid the monotony – joke must be avoided
- Reports of the cases cited must be produced before the judges – if reports are not
available, case books must be available – cases must be cited with full reference –
facts of the case must be read, when it is relied upon for ratio decidendi – but not
necessary in case of obiter dictum
- A moot is a means to an end – the primary object of moot is to enable development of
argument

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 - Though it is essential to cite cases – citing cases by itself should not become an end –
it is to be considered as a means to achieve the end what moot seeks
- ++ patience, courteousness, respectful salutations etc
- Generally four rounds in any moot court competition – Preliminary, quarter final.
Semi-finals and finals
- A moot is not a battle – a moot is a moot – in case of defeat – consider it as a stepping
stone of a win in the days ahead – we learn an lot – great experience & great learning

Memorials or Written Submissions

- Another important part of a moot is submission of written memorials
- Memorials means a statement of facts, accompanying a petition made to an authority
- Written memorials submitted in moot should consist indexes, table of cases,
expansion of abbreviations and bibliography (which forms the informal part)
- It enable the readers to get an idea of the legal materials referred
- The formal part of the memorial consists of statements as to the jurisdiction of the
court to entertain the petition – it also includes – statement of facts, the issues
involved in the case, respective argument and the prayer for remedies
- Memorials must be prepared for both appellants/petitioners and respondents
- Memorial must be prepared after an intensive research of the legal literature
pertaining to the problem
- The authorities must be quoted and cited
- Every page should contain footnotes in support
- The sources of information must be properly acknowledged – failing which it results
in plagiarism
- The mooters may not be runners or winners but their memorials can be the best
- Preparation of memorials helps to improve drafting skills (which is important for an
advocate)
- Mere argumentative skill is not sufficient – in real cases, the lawyers have to file
skilfully drafted plaints, written statements, petitions or counter statements – faulty
drafting results in defeat in a case – in turn becomes detrimental to a client
- Memorial drafting requires sound knowledge of making use of authoritative sources,
use of legal databases both physical as well as online sources (AIR, CrLJ, Manupatra,
SCC Online etc), good style of language and basics of using word files – MS word,
Google Docs etc, familiarity with memorials rules, preparing the Compendium for the
both the sides etc.
- Refer model memorial – format, informal and formal parts of the memorial, colour
code, team code, title page, page no., font size and style, footnote style and size, line
spacing, use of law dictionaries and other legal materials.
- Conclusion +++ PPT – moot court + sample memorials

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 SOCIO LEGAL RESEARCH
- Legal research is the systematic investigation of problems concerned with law
- Law originates and functions in a society
- The need for a new law, a change in existing law and the difficulties that surround its
implementation cannot be studied in a better manner without sociological inquiry
- For a better administration of society, the concept of co-relation of social and legal
research is important
- Sociological jurisprudents say that since law is made for society, the needs of the
society and the structure of the society should be noticed and that is why both legal
research and social research have to be co-related
- In the modern complex society, law cannot be studied in isolation
- There is a need for interdisciplinary, trans-disciplinary and multidisciplinary approach
for a researcher in a legal research
- Socio-legal research depends on the depth of knowledge of the researcher both in law
and in the allied fields
- Jurist Roscoe Pound rightly observed, ‘Good law could be made and the law could be
effectively implemented only if the lawmen kept always in the mind the close
relationship between law and society.’
- Lawyers seldom known the sociological methods of research
- In socio-legal research (or trans-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary research) people
drawn from different branches of social sciences (sociologist, lawyers, political
science, psychology, economics etc)
- Prof. Upendra Baxi – while insisting for sociological research – opined that lawyers
must know much of sociology and the sociologists must know much of law.
- He proposed socio-legal research in some vital areas, they are:
o Mapping of the Indian legal system
o Mapping of formal and informal legal systems
o Study of systems in three important angles
 Legal system as a normative and cultural system
 Legal system as social system and
 Legal system as collection/congeries of formal/national legal system
 Studies on the beneficiaries and victims of administration of justice
 Law and poverty
 Compensatory discrimination of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes
- Prof. Upendra Baxi also criticises the sociological study conducted by the sociologist
who do not know the basic principles of law. He wants that researches like social
welfare legislations, should be conducted only by the ICSSR(Indian Council of Social
Science Research) to place law in the social science category
- This gives new impetus to the socio-legal research
- The Indian Law Institute and Bar Council of India Trust also now-a-days play a vital
role in designing and conducting socio-legal research

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 - Socio-legal research is essentially non-doctrinal and empirical in nature and it
generally involves field study
- It refers to a study that combines legal research with investigation of a problem which
is of a ‘social’ nature
- The purpose of such research is to evaluate and analyse the extent of adequacy or
inadequacy of the existing law and find out whether any amendment or change or
substitute of a new law can offer solution to the social problem under study and
provide relief to the people
- Types of socio-legal research – multi-disciplinary research, interdisciplinary research,
co-operative socio-legal research
- Problems in socio-legal research
- The success of socio-legal research depends on the depth of knowledge of the
researcher – knowledge of law & society
- Complex socio-legal problems require a comprehensive frame of study
- Language problem
- Time and expenditure etc

Footnotes
- Footnotes are conventional validatory (verificatory or confirmatory) and explanatory
procedures
- Footnote numbers are used in the body of an article, dissertation or thesis
- The body of the thesis cannot be loaded with all details – if the author thinks that it is
relevant – can explain in footnote
- Footnotes must be used sparingly – restricted
- Sometimes the content requires acknowledgement – intellectual honesty – for the
source of information – intellectual integrity
- Footnotes are found at the foot of a page – or Chapter notes or end notes
- Footnotes should not be voluminous
- It should not exceed the body
Use of Footnotes:
- It is an ethical concept
- They are used o elaborate or supplement the material used in the body
- Foot note can be used to quote an observation of a judge as it is, directly from a
decided case
- Eg. According to Justice V R Krishna Iyer, as states in ….. It enables to confirm the
source of information independently.
Placement of Footnotes (may be placed)
- At a foot of a page or
- At the end of a chapter or
- At the end of a paper
(better practice is to place them at the foot of a page – it enables the reader to go through the
body and relevant foot note in the meantime)

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 - There are no hard and fast rules as to which mode of placement has to be followed – it
is the discretion of the researcher
Types of Footnotes
- Two types – manual and authomatic
- Before use of computer – manual mode but nothing prevents the researcher to use
manual mode
- In case of automatic footnote- if the cursor is kept on a particular footnote number in
the body of the paper, it shows the same information which is there in the foot of a
page corresponding to that number
Insertion of footnote
- It must be made in such a place, where the author wants sto acknowledge the source
of whishes to give some relevant information below the body of the text
- It must be made by asubsript of the respective number
Formats of footnotes-
- the first line of the footnote is indented
- TNR 10, Single line spaced
- Another option is confining the footnotes to the relevant page only
- It is known as page wise footnoting
Conventions in footnoting
- A particular source may be used only once
- The usually used abbreviations are ibid, id, loc.cit (in the place cited) and op.cit (in
the work already cited)
- p. for page and pp. for pages
Problems in footnoting
- in case of big footnote – continued in next page
- to cite a secondary source, a single footnote is sufficient
- cited-by is an acceptable alternative to ‘quoted in’
Some point to remember
- it is meant for cross references, citation of authorities and sources, acknowledgement
and elucidation or explanation of a point of view
- it is signalled by a n Arabic number (raised a half-line above regular line)
- include the footnote in the first draft
- it must be brief
- single line spaced
- all footnotes end with a full stop
- same bottom margin must be maintained in each page
- accuracy and correct format
- footnotes are called so because they are traditionally placed at the foot of the page

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