Bachelor of Laws: Equity & Trusts

A comprehensive guide to legal research created by the VU Law Library

 

Microcosm of London Plate 022 - Court of Chancery, Lincoln's Inn Hall (tone)

Court of Chancery, Lincoln's Inn Hall, 1808

Equity
1. The separate body of law, developed in the Court of Chancery, which supplements, corrects, and controls the rules of common law.
2. A right recognised by a court of equity
View Definition (Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary, 2011)

Trust
A device by which one person holds property for the benefit of another person. 
View Definition (Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary, 2011)
  • Introduction
  • eBooks
  • Equity & Trusts - Dictionary Definitions
  • Related Subjects in VU Catalogue
  • Journals in Print and Online
  • Halsbury's Laws of Australia - Legal Encyclopaedia
  • Laws of Australia - Legal Encyclopaedia

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How to use this guide

 Dictionary 
  • Use a dictionary to look up definitions of any words or phrases in an assessment that you are unfamiliar with

 

Journal Articles 
  • Check to see if the issues raised in the assessment have been discussed in journal articles

 

 Encyclopaedia 
  • Check a legal encyclopaedia for discussion of the assessment topic.  A legal encyclopaedia typically:
    • provides a concise overview
    • covers all Australian jurisdictions

 

Referencing Guides  
  • Use the guides to reference all sources correctly

eBooks

Annotated Legislation

Annotated Legislation provides the text of the legislation and commentary or explanatory text about each provision.

Equity and Trusts - Dictionary Definitions

 Dictionary 

 

The Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary provides definitions of legal words and phrases, and gives explanations of well known rules and principles of law.  It contains over 25000 definitions.

The dictionary is a secondary source, but it frequently refers to primary sources such as case law and legislation, as authorities for the definitions that it provides.

It can be helpful to look up definitions of any words or phrases in an assessment that you are unfamiliar with.  It's important to remember that a word or phrase may have a meaning in law that is quite different to its ordinary everyday meaning.

Journals in Print and Online

 Journal Articles 


AGIS (Attorney Generals Information Service) - is the leading legal journals database in Australia.  Use AGIS to search hundreds of journals for articles about Equity & Trusts Law. 

 How to Reference Journal Articles 

 


If you wish to browse, then the journals below may be useful places to start

Halsbury's Laws of Australia - Legal Encyclopaedia

 Encyclopaedia 

Halsbury's Laws of Australia is a comprehensive legal encyclopaedia.  Halsbury's provides concise statements of the law supported by references to primary authorities contained in detailed footnotes. Halsbury’s is divided into 89 subject areas, known as titles. It can be browsed or searched. Halsbury's also includes a consolidated index. 

Using a legal encyclopedia can be an efficient way to begin researching a topic.

 How to Reference a Legal Encyclopaedia 

Laws of Australia - Legal Encyclopaedia

 Encyclopaedia 

The Laws of Australia covers over 320 specific topics across 36 broad subject areas. Stating the core principles of the law around a legal topic (bolded at the start of each paragraph of text) and acting as an explanatory tool or starting point for researching key substantive legislative and case law, The Laws of Australia features over 40,000 legal propositions.

Aiding your online legal research, The Laws of Australia online also provides thousands of links to our other online services such as FirstPoint, law journals, law reports and Unreported Judgments, all on Westlaw AU.

 How to Reference a Legal Encyclopaedia