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Definitions and Interpretations How to find them in Brookers Online

Yes, you can use Brookers Online to find definitions and interpretations.
Begin by logging into Brookers Online and then follow the sequence of screen shots (steps) below to locate what you want.

1.

Open NZ Law Partner Legislation and Cases (orange circled) from the list of databases.

2.

From the NZ Law Partner Legislation and Cases content menu select either Statutes or Regulations of NZ to open.
(Note: This search can also be done in other legislation databases eg. Gault on Commercial Law.)

3. In our screen shot below we have opened Statutes of NZ.

Now click on the Advanced Search link (circled) to open the Advanced Search template.

4.

Insert the word or phrase you want a legislative definition for in the Legislative Definitions field  of the Advanced search template as shown circled in the screen shot above. (We have entered the phrase financial services into the search field.) Next press Go.

5.

Results show one document found: 3 Meaning of term "financial services", Goods and Services Tax Act 1985

6. Depending on what you've found and want, you may wish to check Regulations of NZ too.

The screen shot above shows the Advanced Search template in Regulations of NZ.  We have entered financial services into the Legislative Definitions field.

7.  As you can see from our screenshot this search yielded 5 documents where the phrase financial services appears as part of an official interpretation. Results will be displayed where the term has been found as any part of an interpretation in that database.

If the Law is Silent

If the law is silent, or the results of your search are inconclusive be sure to check both Statutes and Regulations of NZ as per our example below.

Our initial search for a legislative definition of  the word fresh gave 1 result in Statutes of NZ and 19 in Regulations of NZ.

1. Statutes of NZ result for a legislative definition of fresh

2. Regulations of NZ result for a legislative definition of fresh

Judicially Considered Words and Phrases

If you wish to check whether the  legislative definition of a word or phrase has been judicially considered open the Case Law Folder from the Table of Contents list in Brookers Online and open an appropriate database as per the screenshot below.

 

 Open the Advanced Search link shown circled in orange below. (Note: In our screenshot we have opened the BriefCase database.)

 

Enter the word or phrase you wish to find out about in the Judicially Considered Words and Phrases field and press Go.
In our example we have used BriefCase to search for the word mislead.

Our results returned 8 documents where the legislative definition of the word mislead had been judicially considered.

Defined Words or Terms in Commentary

If you are looking for references for a defined word or term in Commentary,  follow these steps.

1. Decide on the database you wish to explore.
In our example we have selected Commercial and from its Table of Contents; Gault on Commercial Law.

2. From the Gault on Commerical Law Table of Contents page open the Advanced Search link circled in orange.

3. To expand or broaden your search after you have used the Legislative Definitions field enter your term into Commentary Paragraph Heading field (above the Legislative Definitions field). Next press Go.
In our screenshot we've entered the phrase contract of sale.

 

This search found 4 results as you can see in the screenshot below.

 

 

4. An alternative place to check is in the Subject Index. This can be found in the Table of Contents
 for any of our databases containing legislation and commentary (eg Gault on Commercial Law). 

To check contract of sale we looked under C  and then searched for the word contracts in the Subject Index.
There are multiple entries, all of which have a direct hypertext link to their exact location in the database.

 

That's it!

Let us know of further topics you may find helpful.

A reminder:
If you have training questions or need help to get the best out of your subscription to Brookers Online please call Customer Support on 0800 10 60 60 or click the link Customer Support for more options.

If there is a topic you'd like covered, please let us know! Thank you.

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Definitions and Interpretations: How to find them in Brookers Online

By Susan Dugdale

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