How to use Halsbury's Laws of England, using Lexis+

This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to effectively explore Halsbury's Laws using Lexis+. It covers searching for a topic, starting from a case, and finding a specific paragraph. The guide also explains how to navigate through volumes and utilize footnotes and legal terms.

Charlie Brampton
25 steps
3 minutes

Oclc

Navigate to [https://plus-lexis-com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/uk/legalresearch/?crid=1f99a4bd-7297-486b-bec5-a7a4e7b6897a](https://plus-lexis-com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/uk/legalresearch/?crid=1f99a4bd-7297-486b-bec5-a7a4e7b6897a)

1. Searching for a topic

Look below the long search box and click the "Content" tab. Then choose "Halsbury's Laws & Stair".

Click "Halsbury's Laws of England"

Put your word, phrase or topic in the search box.

Click on the magnifying glass to run your search.

Your results list shows every paragraph in Halsbury's Laws that could be relevant. Click on the title of any paragraph to open it.

Paragraphs in Halsbury's Laws are arranged in volumes. Each volume has particular theme. So you can quickly tell how relevant a paragraph might be by looking at which volume it's part of. Look at the example above. You'll see this is in a volume called 'Rights and Freedoms'.

You'll now see the text of the paragraph. Note how there are footnote markers throughout the text.

Click on a footnote number in the text (or just scroll down) to see the footnotes. Here you will find useful links to cases, legislation and other paragraphs in Halsbury's Laws.

Look down the right of a paragraph and click on "Legal Terms"

Here you can see a short definition of all of the legal terms in your paragraph

2. Starting from a case

[Learn more about finding cases in Lexis+ ](https://scribehow.com/shared/How_to_find_a_case_using_Lexis__WtJbSG0ATrql4lyCQWqvZQ)

Click on the dropdown arrow on the right of the long search box

Choose "Cases"

You can search for a case by its name or its citation. If you don't have a case in mind, try searching for \[1991\] 1 AC 56.

Click on the magnifying glass to run your search.

When you see your case in the results list, click on "Overview" or any of the available law report links.

Look for "Related Documents" down the right of the case. Choose "Halsbury's Laws & Stair"

You'll now see links to any relevant paragraphs in Halsbury's Laws.

3. Finding a specific paragraph

You may know the volume number and paragraph number of something you want to read in Halsbury's Laws (perhaps from a reference in something else you read). Rather than searching, you could browse the list of volumes to find your paragraph. The example below shows how find Volume 29, Paragraph 408.

Look below the long search box and click the "Content" tab. Then choose "Halsbury's Laws & Stair".

Click "Halsbury's Laws of England"

Look down the list of volumes. The list is alphabetical by title, with the volume number in brackets after the name. Click on the ">" symbol next to your chosen volume.

You'll then see sections of the volume. It's not always obvious which section your paragraph will be, so click on any of them to check the paragraph numbering.

You may need to choose further sub-sections

Finally you'll see some paragraphs, as shown by paragraph 408 here. You can use these paragaph numbers as navigational tools. If the number is too high, choose a section earlier in the volume. If the number is too low, choose a section later in the volume.

Click on the name of a pagraph to read it, as described in steps 7-10 above.