The legal system of the United States is based on the principle of federalism, meaning that power is divided between the federal government and the individual states. It is also based on the principle of common law, which is a system of legal precedent that is based on previous court decisions.
There is a hierarchical structure of courts in the US, with the Supreme Court of the United States being the highest court in the land. The federal court system also includes the United States Courts of Appeals, the United States District Courts, and several specialised courts.
In addition to the federal court system, each state has its own court system, which includes trial courts, appellate courts, and a state supreme court. The state court systems are responsible for handling most legal matters, including criminal cases, civil cases, and family law matters.
The US legal system is also based on the principle of due process, which means that individuals are entitled to certain legal rights and protections. These rights include the right to a fair trial, the right to an attorney, and the right to remain silent. The US legal system has a strong emphasis on individual rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press
The White House
The Supreme Court of the United States
To look for law reports in FIND@HKUL, you may search with their titles with “Books+” search scope.
Alternatively, you may also change to Advance Search and enter the following search term for all available law reports within the HKUL Collection:
Below are highlighted some official law reports issued by different courts. Due to there being a large number of courts in the country, listing of such courts will not be shown here one by one. You may make use of databases subscribed by the HKU Libraries, which are noted under the key databases tab, for accessing the cases of different courts.
Federal Official Law Reports
United States Reports [US]
Electronic:
Vols. 1-575 (1754 – 2015) (via U.S. Supreme Court Library, HeinOnline)
Vols. 1 (1882) - present (via Westlaw Classic - Parallel citation: Supreme Court Reporter [S Ct])
Federal Reporter [F.2d/ F.3d] (Federal Court of Appeal)
Electronic: 1940s - present (via Westlaw Classic)
*coverage of specific court may differ, please refer to coverage information indicated below (with example of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals):
Federal Supplement [F. Supp./ F. Supp. 2d] (Federal District Courts)
Electronic: 1700s - present (via Westlaw Classic)
*coverage of specific court may differ, please refer to coverage information indicated below (with example of New York):
States' Official Law Reports
In general, most states ought to have their own official reports. Yet, seven Regional Reports are published by West Publishing, with each covering several states. This map, created by Westlaw, showcases the coverage of each Regional Report.
To search for cases issued by different courts of each state, you may make use of Westlaw Classic with the below access path:
In general, three divisions of court are listed under The Federal Court as shown below. The Federal Court records are to be accessed by the public via the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER). Since HKUL has no subscription to this platform, you are suggested to register for a personal account for the access, with a charge of USD $0.10 per page.
*Useful webpages: Comparing between Federal & State Courts & Court Website Links
The Supreme Court of United States
Opinions of the U.S Supreme Court are published in a set of casebooks, namely the United States Reports, and is available from the official website. “Slip” opinions are posted on this site individually until opinions for the entire Term are published in the bound volume of the United States Reports. The earliest volume of Reports available is volume 502, 1991. Other materials related to the Supreme Court, such as arguments transcripts, dockets and orders of the court, can also be found and accessed.
United States Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
There are 13 circuit courts under the U.S. Courts of Appeal. All opinions and legal documents published by the Federal Circuit are issued online. For Opinions and selected orders from October 1st, 2004 to February 29, 2012, they are available for public access via the stated site. Searches can be conducted by release date, origin (i.e. jurisdiction), status, appeal number and case name. For documents used after March 1st, 2012, access is required via PACER with a personal registered account. Case records prior to the above date are to be viewed upon request.
United States District Courts
94 district courts can be found in the country, with each district court being under the jurisdiction of one of the circuit courts. Due to large number of courts, listing will not be shown here one by one. To obtain information on individual courts, you may visit the United States Courts website for the relevant directory.
*This map, retrieved from United States Courts website, shows the distribution of circuit courts and district courts in the country (accessed on 28 October 2022).
United States’ State Court
The state court deals with disputes and matters within its own jurisdiction. Under the court system of each state, there will generally be the trial court of general jurisdiction, intermediate appellate court (e.g. Court of Appeal), and the Supreme Court. Due to a large number of states and courts, listing will not be shown here one by one. You may visit the below resources for accessing cases issued under each state court, or please make use of Google to search for the official website of each state:
The Congress.gov collections contain comprehensive materials regarding U.S. legislations, committee materials, congressional records, treaty documents, communications and etc. Coverage of materials depends, with selected documents available from 1950s to the present (visit this page for more details). Help Center of this platform also offers useful assistance on how to conduct search here.
The Congress is composed of the U.S. Senate (upper chamber) and the U.S. House of Representatives (lower chamber). You may visit their corresponding websites for records of Bills and Legislations, Proceedings and Votes, and more:
The United States Code is prepared and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. This site offers the most current of the online versions with constant update, while previous years’ can be accessed via the GovInfo website.
Documented by the U.S. National Archives, the well-known Charters of Freedom are available for access online by the public. The Documents include the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bills of Rights, which announced during the establishment of the country.
Provided as a service of the United States Government Publishing Office, a variety of materials are available via this website, including Bills and Statutes, Budget and Presidential Materials, Congressional Committee Materials and Rules and Procedures, etc. Searches can be done by titles from A-Z, by classified categories, by publication date, related committees, and authors. Depending on the materials, some documents can be dated back to 1820s.
U.S. Congress
Serves as the legislature of the U.S. federal government, it is composed of the U.S. Senate (upper chamber) and the U.S. House of Representatives (lower chamber). You may visit their corresponding websites for records of Bills and Legislations, Proceedings and Votes, and more:
Treaties
In U.S., treaties are submitted to the Senate for discussion and approval. Details of the status of treaties can be retrieved via Congress.gov, from the 94th Congress (1975-1976) to the present, while full text of treaties from 1995 to present are available via Government Publishing Office. Below are also some useful links when conducting search on U.S. treaties:
Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII)
Supporting the free access of legal information, the LII, supported by the Cornell Law School, offers an extensive collection of materials. Decisions archived on this site focus on those issued by the Supreme Court, dating back to the 1990s to the present. Here, you can also find full texts of U.S. Constitution and Code, Federal Law on different aspects of the country, state laws, and statutes by topic, etc.
Maintained by the Library of Congress, this digital collection on U.S. Reports covers the official opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1754 to 2012, volumes 1 to 570. Useful resources are also available via this site with Research Guide to U.S. Case Law and How to Find Free Law Online.
Federal Statutes: A Beginner’s Guide - Library of Congress
Provided by the U.S. Library of Congress, this research guide explains the statutory publication process for federal laws in the country. You are also encouraged to explore others guides created by the Library of Congress.
Free public access is available via Justia to decisions made by Federal and State courts. You may browse by courts and the year of decisions, in which the earliest year of availability might differ among jurisdictions (i.e. depends on different states).
For Codes and Statues and Regulations. You may browse by jurisdictions (i.e. federal or a particular state) > content > year of publication.
The Case Law Access Project (CAP)
The CAP, maintained by the Harvard Law School Library, aims to provide public access to all official and published U.S. court decisions. Cases are available dated from 1658 to 2020, with searching available in different formats, such as keywords searches, display in trends and timelines, and browsing by jurisdictions.
Founded in 2009 The Judicial Learning Center aims to promote public understanding of the function and value of the judicial branch of the U.S. Government, with emphasis on the federal court in particular. Resources from this site serve as a foundational reference for the development of in-depth understanding of different courts. Selected resources are: