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annual  report  to  each  field  library  activity  listing  those commercial lawbooks and services that are maintained by JAG for the particular field library (see fig. 2-2). When this report is received by your office, you will probably be tasked with checking those items listed in the report against the contents of the library. This can be done quickly and easily if you have an effective system of accountability established. After you have completed this check of the library, you should send your findings through your immediate supervisor to the head of your office who will then complete the report and send it to JAG. Even though this may be the only report  you  will  have  to  work  with  concerning  the library,  there  may  be  occasions  when  the  Head,  Field Library section may desire a special report about spe- cific  books  and  materials  contained  in  your  library.  If such a report is received, it should be handled according to the instructions that accompany it. LEGAL RESEARCH Even though you may not be directly involved in the actual performance of legal research as an LN3 or LN2,  you  may  be  required  to  locate  reference  materials for the lawyers in your office. The following paragraphs should  help  you  become  more  familiar  with  the  types of’ materials normally contained in a law library and how these materials are related to the basic legal re- search categories mentioned earlier in this chapter. In addition to this, we will also discuss what is meant by citing a legal source and how to use these citations to locate  specific  references. REFERENCE  MATERIALS At the beginning of this chapter, we took a brief look at the three broad categories that legal reference materials fall into, these being primary sources, finding tools, and secondary sources. Let us look at these cate- gories a little closer and see what types of materials are contained  in  each. Primary  Sources Primary sources have been defined as those re- corded rules of human behavior that will be enforced by (he state. These rules may be recorded in federal or state statutes,  administrative  and  executive  regulations,  is- sued  to  comply  with  a  legislative  authorization,  or  as court  decisions. s Statutes—Statutes are published by jurisdiction and in chronological order of enactment. Chronological publications of these laws are called session laws. One such  publication  of  federal  laws  that  will  probably  be part of your library is  Satutes at Large. Because  these laws are listed in chronological order and not by subject and date of passage, it is difficult for the researcher to locate a particular law. To help solve this problem, these laws are codified by subject matter and the laws that pertain  to  a  particular  subject,  regardless  of  when  they were passed, are found together under a specific subject codification. Normally, your library will have either the U.S.C.  published  by  the  GPO,  which  is  the  official codification of federal statues or the U.S.C.A. or the U.S.C.S., which are unofficial versions published by West Publishing Company or Lawyers Cooperative Publishing  Company,  respectively.  You  may  also  find that you will have similar codification for state statutes contained in your library covering the laws for the state where your command is located. .   Regulations—Administrative   and   executive regulations provide the guidelines to be followed in carrying  out  certain  statutes.  For  example,  the  MCM was published according to the directive issued as Ex- ecutive Order 12473 of August 1, 1984, to comply with federal  legislation  enacted  that  affected  the  application of military justice in the Armed Forces of the United States. Another example is the regulations and instruc- tions used by the Internal Revenue Service to provide the guidelines for implementing federal tax laws. Fed- eral regulations are officially printed in the Federal Register. Because the  Federal Register  is  published  in chronological order, the same as  Statutes at Large, the same problem exists for the researcher trying to find a specific regulation. To help solve this problem, the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) was developed and serves the same function for regulations that the U.S.C.  serves  for  statutes. .  Court  decisions—One  of  the  bedrock  principles of our judicial system is  stare  decisis  et  non  quieta movere, which basically means to adhere to precedent and not to unsettle things that are settled. Questions arise daily that require interpretation of the law. These questions are resolved by the courts (usually appellate courts), and these decisions become law. Case  decisions  are  collected  and  published  in chronologically  arranged  volumes  that  become  a  very important part of your library. As an LN, you will be concerned primarily with the reports of cases that have been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts  of  Appeals  for  the  federal  circuits,  federal  dis- trict   courts,   the   U.S.   Court   of   Military   Appeals (U.S.C.M.A.),  and  the  Navy  and  Marine  Corps  Court  of 2-14

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