Precedent Map
The JustCite Precedent Map is a way of visualising relationships between cases and finding other cases which may be related to your line of enquiry.
Getting Started
When the Precedent Map is available for a case, you can access it by clicking the link on the left-hand side of the JustCite information screen:
Initial View
When you first view the map, the instant case is displayed in the centre of the screen, and around it are cases with which it has a relationship:
- Cases cited by your case appear on the left-hand side of the screen, and cases which cite your case appear on the right.
- Cases are ordered chronologically, in a clockwise direction. The oldest case cited appears in the lower left, and the most recent citing case appears in the lower right.
Relationship Types
A green connector indicates a 'positive' relationship, e.g. applied, approved or followed.
Yellow indicates a 'neutral' relationship, such as referred to or considered.
Red indicates a 'negative' relationship, such as distinguished or overruled.
If you hover over a connector with the mouse, you will see a tooltip offering an explicit declaration of the relationship type:
Relative Sizes and Common Relationships
The size at which 'orbiting' cases are displayed is proportional to the number of relationships shared with the case in the centre. In the example below, Oxley v Hiscock has more cases in common with Goodman v Carlton than, say, Fowler v Barron, and therefore appears larger.
By hovering over a case, JustCite will fade out unconnected cases and show the relationships shared with the central case.
In the example above, you can see that Oxley v Hiscock distinguished Goodman v Carlton, but cited 3 cases in common: Dyer v Dyer, Pettitt v Pettitt, and Huntingford v Hobbs. Further, you can also see that Oxley was subsequently cited by Fowler v Barron, which also cited Goodman.
Additional Information
Hovering over the central case will produce an overlay providing further details about the case, including keywords, legislation cited and related articles:
Changing Focus
By clicking on any of the orbiting cases you can change the focus to that case:
Clicking on the central case will exit the Precedent Map and take you to the JustCite Information Screen for that case.
Important Points
- For cases with a large number of relationships, it may not be possible for all of them to be displayed on the screen. JustCite attempts to prioritise cases of particular interest or importance within the network at a given time and display as many as possible for your screen resolution. The Precedent Map should be considered a visual aid to assist you in finding leading cases relevant to your line of enquiry, but should not be relied upon to show an exhaustive list of cases. A more comprehensive list of preceding and subsequent cases can be found by using the “Show All”, “Cases considered” or “Subsequent Cases” links from the JustCite information page.