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Using LJAS - The Help Menu Click here to download the LJAS User Guide (you will need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed) LJAS documents can be retrieved in a number of different ways. In designing the new database, we have attempted to include as many of the possible key search terms and methods which users commonly employ when conducting a search. LJAS allows you to conduct a search by looking at specific sections of the documents. This assists in narrowing the search process. Specifically, the new service provides for searches using: All Text (selected by default) Search the entire content of each document (i.e. case details plus body of judgment). Catchwords/Keywords Will only search the catchwords contained within each document. EXAMPLE: By selecting "catchwords", you can search for all cases involving "compulsory winding-up" or "criminal sentencing" or "discount and mitigation". HKEC Cite Will search for the individual Electronic Citation assigned to each unreported judgment. You may search with or without the square brackets. EXAMPLE: By selecting "HKEC Cite", you can search for the judgment which has the citation "[2002] HKEC 126" or "2002 HKEC 126". Case Ref. No. Searches for the case reference number. EXAMPLE: By selecting "Case Ref No", you can search for all cases which have the case reference number "HCCW 932/1999". Tip: When entering a Case Reference Number, be sure to include a "space" after the four-letter abbreviation of the case type (e.g. HCCW or CACV). For instance, enter CACV 1/2002 and NOT CACV1/2002. Tip: When entering Case Reference Numbers for CFA Judgments, enter the full citation, such as FACC No 1 of 2002, or FACV Nos 1-3 of 2002. Entering FACC 1/2002 will not return any valid results. Judgment Searches the body text of the original unreported judgment. Party Names Searches only the party name of each document. EXAMPLE: By selecting "Party names", you can search for all cases in which the word "Richel" appears in the party name. Tip: When entering company names, leave the following in their abbreviated form: (1) "Limited" as "Ltd", (2) "Company" as "Co", (3) "Corporaion" as "Corp", and (4) "Incorporated" as "Inc". Judge's Name Searches for the name(s) of the relevant judge(s) in the unreported judgment. (e.g. Bokhary PJ, Deputy Judge Lam, Kwan J, Woo JA, etc.) Judgment Date Allows you to search for unreported judgment based on the date of judgment. The search engine also allows the user to search for documents within a specified period of time. EXAMPLE: By selecting "Judgment date", you can search for all cases with date of judgment"15 January 2002" or between "3 March 2002 to 30 September 2003". Rules of Search Syntax To search for a document, enter your search term(s) and choose the relevant parameters from the main search window. Please note that while the search window is set in a default exact mode, it is also possible to form alternative search requests using the following operators: AND The search term must occur together in the document for a match. This is the default setting for an exact search, so there no need to add AND between words. OR If you add OR between two search words or phrases, the search engine will locate one or the other, or both, of the words or phrases. NOT Use NOT to exclude results which contain certain words. e.g. if you want to search for all documents that contain the word 'judicial' but want to exclude those that mention 'judicial review', you would type 'judicial NOT review'. * You can use the * to replace any number of characters in the search word. e.g. statut* will find statute, statutes, statutory etc. |