SAFLII is a free legal database that is rich in resources. This training covers how to do topic searches for resources, how to use the advanced searches as well as browsing SAFLII and using LawCite.

1. SAFLII
This is a free access to law database –
and it contains documents from many
different courts and tribunals. It is a
very valuable resource and easy to use!

2. Topic search for materials

3. Simply type in your topic search into the
search box - use your search operators
eg. AND, OR, NOT and “ “ for phrases

4. Your results will come up in terms of
relevance to your keywords. The
percentage number behind each items
indicates how relevant it is to your topic

5. If you want to look for specific types eg.
Cases, use the ‘by databases’ tab and it
will show you how many documents in
each court
Click on the document number to open
the list

7. Using the advanced search to select specific
databases

8. Select ‘advanced search’ below the
search box – here you can select your
specific court or database to search in

9. The search results come up in the same
way

10. Browsing SAFLII by source

11. You can browse what SAFLII has by
selecting ‘South Africa’ and then selecting
the database you want to browse

12. Once in your database, browse by year or
title

13. Using LawCite to track case treatment

14. Select LawCite on the case you want to
view
Alternatively go to LawCite.org and
search for the case there

15. It shows all the cases that have referred to this case – not only in South Africa, but
also elsewhere that has a Legal Information Institute – you can click on each heading
to arrange the results by that heading