Not all Acts of Parliament are the same and each type of Act has a particular function and name.
Electronic Acts
Principal Act: also called an ‘original Act’, is an Act that deals with an area of law which has not been dealt with before.
Amending Acts: identify specific sections of the principal act that are to be repealed, inserted or amended. These Acts usually have the word “Amendment” in their title.
Consolidated Acts (Electronic): are found in databases such as LAWLEX & AustLII. Here the database vendors have incorporated the amendments into the principal Act so that it reads as one Act. Consolidated Acts are not authorized reprints.
Hard Copy Acts
Principal Act: also called an ‘original Act’, is an Act that deals with an area of law which has not been dealt with before.
Amending Acts: identify specific sections of the principal act that are to be repealed, inserted or amended. These Acts usually have the word “Amendment” in their title.
Reprinted Acts: An act may be amended numerous times over the years. To aid the researcher to find the current law, acts are reprinted. The reprinted act incorporates the principal and amending acts, so that it reads as one act. This will state the law as it exists at the time of the reprint.
Structure of an Act
To carry out legal research you must become familiar with the structure of an Act. The structure of Acts within the Nepalese jurisdiction follows a common pattern. Note the important parts in the consolidated Act below:
Evaluate your Search
You need to evaluate your search results for relevance and quality. Depending on your evaluation you may need to revise or modify your search strategy.
Some evaluation criteria:
Relevance
Is the information relevant to your topic, question or purpose?
Quantity
Are you finding enough information? Are you finding too much or too little?
Quality
Is the information from reputable sources?
Timeliness
Is the information up-to-date? Does it cover the desired time period?
Scope
Is the information comprehensive? Is it too narrow or too broad?
Modify your search
Once you have performed a search, you may need to modify the search if too many or too few results have been retrieved.
Too many results?
- Add more terms to narrow your search and be more specific.
- Consider using narrower terms
- Consider phrase searching (often by putting the phrase in quotation marks e.g. “native title”)
When modification takes place, consider to
- Add alternative terms if needed
- Consider using broader terms
- Check spelling, typing errors and variations
- Consider truncation if not already used
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