# Legal research glossary URL: https://www.barristerai.com.au/glossary Last updated: 2026-11-09 Publisher: Barrister AI Short definitions of the terms that come up in Australian legal research, from medium neutral citations to the Kable principle. Each links to a fuller explanation. ## Terms ### AGLC The Australian Guide to Legal Citation, the standard citation style for Australian legal writing. The current edition is the fourth (AGLC4, 2018). See https://www.barristerai.com.au/tools/aglc-citation ### Authorised report The report series a court has approved as the official version of its judgments, such as the CLR for the High Court. Cite it in preference to other series. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/tools/aglc-citation#reported-cases ### Brief to counsel The instructions and documents a solicitor sends to a barrister when engaging them to advise, draft or appear. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/features/briefs ### Briginshaw principle The principle that the strength of evidence needed to prove a fact on the balance of probabilities depends on the seriousness of the allegation and the gravity of its consequences. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/briginshaw ### Browne v Dunn, rule in The rule of fairness that a party who intends to contradict a witness on a point must put that point to the witness in cross-examination. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/browne-v-dunn ### Catchwords Short subject headings at the top of a judgment or headnote identifying the areas of law, legislation and issues it deals with. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/features/judgment-summaries ### Chapter III The chapter of the Australian Constitution dealing with the judicature. It is the source of the separation of judicial power and the Kable principle. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/kable ### Citator A research tool that records a case’s later history and how subsequent cases have treated it. CaseBase, FirstPoint and LawCite are Australian examples. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/features/case-citator ### Client legal privilege The statutory form of legal professional privilege under the uniform Evidence Acts (ss 118 to 120), protecting confidential advice and litigation communications. In every uniform evidence jurisdiction except the Commonwealth (NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT), s 131A extends it to pre-trial disclosure such as subpoenas and discovery. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/privilege ### Coherence In negligence, the principle that a duty of care will not be imposed if it would conflict with another legal duty or a statutory scheme. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/sullivan-v-moody ### Distinguished A judicial treatment label: a later court held that a case did not apply because the facts or issues were materially different. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/features/case-citator#treatment-terms ### Duty of care The legal obligation to take reasonable care to avoid causing foreseeable harm to another. In novel cases, Australian courts reason from the salient features of the relationship. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/sullivan-v-moody ### Expert opinion evidence Opinion admitted under s 79 of the uniform Evidence Acts because it is wholly or substantially based on specialised knowledge from training, study or experience. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/makita-v-sprowles ### Headnote A summary placed at the start of a reported judgment, stating the catchwords, what was held, and the authorities considered. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/features/judgment-summaries ### Hearsay rule The rule in s 59 of the uniform Evidence Acts: evidence of a previous representation is not admissible to prove a fact the person intended to assert by it, subject to exceptions. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/uniform-evidence-law#key-sections ### House v The King error Error in the exercise of a discretion that justifies appellate intervention, shown specifically or inferred from a result that is unreasonable or plainly unjust. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/house-v-the-king ### Ibid Latin for "in the same place". In AGLC footnotes, a reference to the source cited in the immediately preceding footnote. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/tools/aglc-citation#subsequent-references ### Jones v Dunkel inference The inference that an unexplained failure to call a witness who would be expected to be called means their evidence would not have assisted the party. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/jones-v-dunkel ### Kable principle The principle that State Parliaments cannot confer functions on State courts that substantially impair their institutional integrity as repositories of federal judicial power. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/kable ### Legal professional privilege The common law protection of confidential communications made for the dominant purpose of giving or obtaining legal advice, or for use in litigation. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/privilege ### Legal unreasonableness A ground of judicial review: a statutory power exercised unreasonably, including by a decision lacking an evident and intelligible justification, is invalid. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/legal-unreasonableness ### Manifestly excessive A sentence appeal ground: the sentence is so far outside the range that error must be inferred, under the second limb of House v The King. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/house-v-the-king ### Medium neutral citation The citation a court gives a judgment, independent of any publisher, in the form [Year] Court Number, for example [2013] HCA 18. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/tools/aglc-citation#medium-neutral-citation ### Obiter dictum A remark in a judgment that was not necessary to decide the case. It may be persuasive but is not binding. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/ratio-decidendi-and-obiter-dicta#obiter ### Overruled A judicial treatment label: a court with authority to do so held that an earlier decision was wrongly decided. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/features/case-citator#treatment-terms ### Pinpoint citation A reference to the specific page or paragraph of a source that supports a proposition, such as 175 CLR 1, 42 or [2024] NSWSC 123, [45]. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/tools/aglc-citation ### Practice note A court’s published direction on how proceedings are to be conducted. Several courts now have practice notes on the use of generative AI. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/guides/generative-ai-practice-notes ### Ratio decidendi The reasoning necessary for the decision in a case. It is the part of a judgment that binds lower courts. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/ratio-decidendi-and-obiter-dicta ### Research memo A document answering a specific legal question, setting out the facts, the law, the analysis and a conclusion. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/features/legal-memos ### Salient features The factors Australian courts weigh in deciding whether a duty of care exists in a novel case, such as control, vulnerability, reliance and coherence. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/sullivan-v-moody#salient-features ### SC Gen 23 The NSW Supreme Court practice note on the use of generative AI, which took effect on 3 February 2025. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/guides/generative-ai-practice-notes#nsw ### Uniform evidence law The largely identical Evidence Acts in force federally and in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT. See https://www.barristerai.com.au/principles/uniform-evidence-law General information, not legal advice. Editorial policy: https://www.barristerai.com.au/editorial-policy