Secondary & tertiary materials

Legal materials are divided into three categories:

• Primary materials, which are documents that contain the law, such as cases and legislation
• Secondary materials, which are documents about the law, including books, commentaries, journal articles
• Tertiary materials, or 'reference materials' such as dictionaries and encyclopaedia, which are tools for starting or clarifying research.

There is also a special category of document that falls somewhere in between the two called 'extrinsic' materials. Extrinsic materials are documents which can be used in court or in legal analysis to help determine the intention of a piece of legislation. Parliamentary debates (Hansard), Bills, and Law Reform documents are included in the extrinsic materials category.

For more on legislation and case law, see our guides:

For more information on finding these materials, see the "Finding secondary & tertiary materials" section of this guide:

Secondary materials

Secondary legal materials are those materials which are about the law. Secondary materials can help you find relevant primary materials, as well as interpreting and discussing materials such as:

• Extrinsic Materials (e.g., Explanatory Memoranda (EMs), Second Reading Speeches, Reports, Bills)
• Articles
• Books
• Commentary

Tertiary materials

Tertiary legal materials compile, list or digest information on the law from other sources. Tertiary materials provide overview and background and include reference tools which help find the law. Examples of tertiary materials are:

• Citators
• Dictionaries
• Directories
• Encyclopaedias

​Note: Tertiary Materials are not considered acceptable material upon which to base academic legal research, so cannot be included in reference lists.