These products typically provide case details (name, judgment date, judge/s, court) as well as a selection of the following information:
CaseBase includes selected cases from United Kingdom, USA and other overseas jurisdictions. KeyCite is restricted to Australian cases in Westlaw Australia but is also used for overseas cases in the Thomson Reuters Westlaw Classic database.
Before relying on a case as an authority, verify it's still authoritative or ‘good law’, eg that it hasn't been overruled by a later case or reversed on appeal. This is known as 'noting up' or locating a case's 'subsequent history' or 'judicial consideration'. Consider the court hierarchy and doctrine of precedent, eg High Court decisions are less likely to receive negative or unfavourable subsequent judicial consideration than lower court decisions.
Search for case law in Lexis Advance, then click on the CaseBase link or a case name in the results list to view CaseBase information.
The below video demonstrates the features of CaseBase.
LexisNexisAustralia, 'CaseBase Case Citator' (YouTube, 9 July 2021) <https://youtu.be/7Fyb3G9g6ts?si=_PtVdPUPtNNW8rOr>.
CaseBase uses a 'traffic light' system of green, amber and red symbols to summarise subsequent treatment. Be wary of citing a case with a red symbol as an authority without further investigation as it indicates the case has been reversed, disapproved or overruled. Note a case involving several issues may only be overturned on one of those points of law.
Cases referring to this case shows later cases that have cited the case including annotations explaining how it was treated, eg followed, applied, overruled etc. Use the graph to sort and filter the list. Some cases show exact paragraphs cited by later cases. A case may have several annotations if treated differently within individual judgments or used for multiple issues.
The CaseBase Signal Help link provides more information.
KeyCite appears above cases in Westlaw Australia. It shows any negative treatment, litigation history, citing references (cases and secondary sources citing the case) and a table of authorities cited in the case.
The below video demonstrates how to use KeyCite.
KeyCite - Westlaw Australia (Thomson Reuters, 2023) <https://support.thomsonreuters.com.au/product/new-westlaw-australia/video/keycite-westlaw-australia-256-min>.
Citing References > Cases displays subsequent cases that have cited the case, organised by depth of treatment. Filter the list using options on the left, eg jurisdiction. Be wary of cases with a red flag as it indicates negative direct history, eg case reversed on appeal.
Negative Treatment lists any negative direct history and citing references. Note that KeyCite classifies distinguished as 'negative treatment', whereas CaseBase classifies this as cautionary treatment.
It's best practice to read the subsequent case to confirm how the prior case was treated if there are differences between the case law research products and you require a definitive answer.
These products involve an automated function and are not editorially controlled. They do not provide annotations for how a case was treated by later cases and results must be reviewed thoroughly.
AustLII provides a NoteUp references option when viewing a case. This displays cases and other documents in AustLII that refer to that case.
This is an automated function and is not editorially controlled. Consequently, results must be reviewed thoroughly and there aren't any annotations for how the case was treated by the later cases.