A legal encyclopaedia is a work which aims to give a comprehensive statement of the law. Some cover a specific area of law, while others are much broader in scope.
The main general legal encyclopaedias are Laws of Scotland: The Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia and Halsbury's Laws of England
The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia provides an updated statement of Scots law. It is a useful starting point for legal research on Scots Law.
The Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia comprises over one hundred and thirty ‘titles’ (general subjects) from ‘Administrative Law’ to ‘Wills and Succession’. Within each ‘title’ the subject is divided into more specific headings, sub-headings, and numbered paragraphs.
You can access it online and in the Library.
You can access the Stair Memorial Encylopaedia online on the Lexis+ service, either directly:
Stair memorial encyclopaediaor via the main Lexis+ service. On the Lexis+ homepage, select 'Content', then 'Halsbury's Law & Stair', then 'Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia'.
Once you have navigated to the Search screen, you can proceed to search or follow the link to ‘Browse’ the encyclopaedia:
You may find it helpful to browse the work and select particular titles or headings to search under – this limits results to those particular topics.
Each numbered paragraph is comprised of the original text and update text. The updating text appears as separate ‘TEXT’ and ‘NOTE’ entries below the original text and footnotes. Updates are not incorporated into the main text – you must read the whole paragraph.
From within a single document (paragraph) you can select the print, email or download icons.
You may select more than one document by ticking boxes beside each document:
Select the print, email or download icons - in the new window ensure you select your desired ‘Document Range’.
*NB Our copy of the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia is no longer updated. For up-to-date information refer to the online version on Lexis+.
The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia is held in the law reference section on level 5 of the Library:
The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia by Halsbury’s Laws of England is a comprehensive and updated encyclopaedia of English law. It is comprised of a number of ‘titles’ (or subjects).
You can access the online version of Halsbury’s Laws of England via the Lexis+ service.
You can do this directly:
Halsbury's Laws of England.Alternatively, on the Lexis+ homepage, select 'Content', then 'Halsbury's Law & Stair', then ‘Halsbury's Laws of England'.
Once you have navigated to the Search screen, you can proceed to search or follow the link to ‘Browse’ the encyclopaedia:
You may find it helpful to browse the work and select particular titles or headings to search under – this limits results to those particular topics.
Each numbered paragraph is comprised of the original text and update text. The updating text appears as a separate UPDATE entry below the original text and footnotes. These updates are not incorporated into the main text – you must read the whole paragraph.
From within a single document (paragraph) you can select the print, email or download icons.
You may select more than one document by ticking boxes beside each document:
Select the print, email or download icons - in the new window ensure you select your desired ‘Document Range’.
You can search for other legal encyclopaedias and reference texts using SUPrimo:
