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As your member library, we often receive questions from QLS members about our services, print and digital collections, judgments and sentencing information.
Here are the answers to some of your most commonly asked questions. If your question is not answered here, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us:
- 1300 SCLQLD (1300 725 753)
- sclqld.org.au/contact-us
I’m preparing for a case and have limited time to do research. Can the library assist?
Yes, we can! Our experienced librarians have specialist legal information services expertise to support you in navigating legal content to find the material you need. We can help you with information enquiries, legal research and requests for copies of judgments or other documents not available to you online.
QLS full members are eligible for up to 30 minutes of free research assistance and up to 10 free documents a day. (Fees may apply for requests in excess of these daily limits, or for urgent requests.)
Visit sclqld.org.au/research to submit a request.
Is the library open in the evenings or on weekends?
The Brisbane library is open 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
However, Queensland legal practitioners with a current practising certificate and Queensland Government lawyers can apply for after-hours access to the library premises to use the physical collections and facilities at any time, any day. Register at sclqld.org.au/register.
I need somewhere private to work – do you have any study rooms?
Our Brisbane library has several private study rooms, as well as public PCs, that can be used on a first-come, first-served basis.
There are also plenty of quiet areas and desks available in the main part of the library, and you can access our free wi-fi throughout the library. And don’t forget our beautiful reading deck if you’d like fresh air and grand views of the city while you work!
I’m looking for a particular book, do you have it?
To search the library collection:
- check the catalogue at catalogue.sclqld.org.au
- then visit us in our main Brisbane library, or one of our regional libraries in Cairns, Townsville or Rockhampton.
Where can I find decisions handed down by Queensland courts and tribunals?
We provide free access to a comprehensive collection of the official unreported judgments of Queensland courts and tribunals at sclqld.org.au/caselaw. CaseLaw also links to the authorised versions of
decisions in the Queensland Reports where decisions have been reported.
You can use the CaseLaw advanced search features to tailor your search, locate relevant and useful results, easily navigate between cases, and even save cases to view later, download, print and share.
Want to get access to civil judgments of the Queensland Court of Appeal and Supreme Court Trial Division as soon as they are published? Follow us on Twitter at @LawLibraryQld and be the first to know.
Help! I can’t find a particular judgment online.
If the judgment has not been published online, it may be subject to a non-publication order. If you cannot locate a judgment, consider also whether the judgment name may have been anonymised in order to comply with legislative provisions regarding restricted personal information.
For criminal matters, if a person was acquitted there will be no publicly available documents relating to the proceeding. If a trial was held, a request can be made to Auscript (fees apply) for a copy of the trial transcript.
Where can I find sentencing remarks?
Persons who plead guilty or who are found guilty after a Supreme Court or District Court trial will be sentenced at a sentencing hearing and a sentencing remarks transcript will be produced.
Transcripts that have been made public by the courts are available for a limited time at sclqld.org.au/caselaw/sentencing-remarks.
Sentencing remarks from the Supreme Court and District Court which have not been made public on the library website may be accessible via the Queensland Sentencing Information Service (QSIS). For more information about QSIS, including eligibility requirements, visit sclqld.org.au/qsis.
This story was originally published in Proctor April 2020.
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