The content and research tools you rely on are on LawNet.com, along with faster search, AI-assisted research and books inside the platform. This page shows you what’s new, what’s the same, and how to get the best results from the revamped search function.
Note: Account administrators will still be able to access the user access management module on lawnet.sg to add, remove and manage users.
Only available on LawNet.com
Features that are not on LawNet.sg:
LawNet AI search
Ask a legal question in plain English and get an answer with numbered footnotes linking to the source paragraphs in cases, legislation and Academy Publishing books. Filters let you choose which sources are used.
AI summaries
Headnote-style summaries for unreported judgments and tribunal decisions. Trust features flag low-confidence passages and unmatched terms, and footnotes link to the source paragraphs. Only summaries above a 90% fact score are published.
Academy Library inside LawNet [Premium add-on]
Search and read Academy Publishing books alongside primary sources such as judgments and legislation. The reader has a navigable table of contents, clickable footnotes, and a references panel with linked cases and legislation. You can search within a book, pick up where you left off in My Books, and download selected pages as PDF*.
* Not applicable for some titles
Legislation module and annotations
Ten frequently cited statutes, including the Companies Act 1967, the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 and the Rules of Court 2021. Each is shown with the judgments and books that refer to it, provision by provision. AI-generated annotations to the Companies Act summarise the legal principles drawn from case law.
Previews without leaving the page
Preview any search result (details, matching text, facts, holdings, full text) from the results list. Inside a document, preview cited cases within the same page or click to open related materials in a new tab.
Bulk download
Select up to 50 judgments, regulatory decisions, journals, commentaries or notices from your results and download them in one ZIP file. Your selection stays in place when you run new searches.
Smarter, faster search
Relevance ranking that takes legal authority into account, typeahead suggestions, a Hits bar on every result, and filters that grey out jurisdictions that don’t apply to your chosen content types.
Asian Insights and India cases
Regional legal news, commentary and a Regional Counsel podcast series. Free content can be read without signing in.
Available on both platforms
Your core research content and tools are on LawNet.com. Some are in a different place, as noted below.
Legal research content
| Content Type | [Old] LawNet.sg | [New] LawNet.com |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore Law Reports | Resource(s) > Cases > Singapore Law Reports | Filters > Content Type: Judgments + Jurisdiction: Singapore |
| Unreported Judgments | Resource(s) > Cases > Judgments | Filters > Content Type: Judgments + Jurisdiction: Singapore |
| English Cases | Resource(s) > Cases > English Cases | Filters > Content Type: Judgments + Jurisdiction: United Kingdom |
| Regulatory Decisions | Resource(s) > Cases > Decisions | Filters > Content Type: Regulatory Decisions + Jurisdiction: Singapore |
| Heritage Law Reports, consisting of: • Kyshe’s Reports • the Straits Law Journal • the Straits Settlements Law Reports • Malayan Cases • the Federated Malay States Law Reports • the Johore Law Reports • Malayan Union Law Reports • Singapore Law Reports • Malayan Law Reports | Resource(s) > Cases > Heritage Law Reports | Filters > Content Type: Judgments + Jurisdiction: Malaysia, Brunei, Federated Malay States, Johore, Malayan Union, Straits Settlements |
| Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports | Resource(s) > Cases > Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports | Filters > Content Type: Judgments + Jurisdiction: Singapore + Law Reports: Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports (SSAR) |
| Singapore Construction Adjudication Review | Resource(s) > Cases > Singapore Construction Adjudication Review | Filters > Content Type: Judgments + Jurisdiction: Singapore + Law Reports: Singapore Construction Adjudication Review (SCAdjR) |
| Malayan Law Journal | Resource(s) > Cases > Malayan Law Journal | Filters > Content Type: Judgments + Jurisdiction: Singapore, Malaysia + Law Reports: Malayan Law Journal (MLJ) |
| Journals, Commentaries, Notices & Directions | Resource(s) > Reference Materials > Journals, Commentaries + Legislation, Rules and Notices > Notices and Directions | Filters > Content Type: Journals, Commentaries, Notices & Directions |
| Books | Resource(s) > Reference Materials > Books | Filters > Content Type: Books Academy Library (Premium add-on) subscribers will be redirected to the full book. Non-subscribers will be shown relevant snippets from the book, within the search results. Books are also accessible via the Academy Library e-reader, from the left menu bar. |
Legal Resources
| Resource | How to access on LawNet.com |
|---|---|
| Pleadings – premium add-on | From left menu bar, under Legal Resources > Precedents > Pleadings |
| Taxation – premium add-on | From left menu bar, under Legal Resources > Precedents > Taxation |
| Commercial Precedents – included with a basic subscription | From left menu bar, under Legal Resources > Precedents > Commercial Precedents |
| Clause Bank – included with a basic subscription | From left menu bar, under Legal Resources > Precedents > SAL Clause Bank |
| Guides & Toolkits – included with a basic subscription | From left menu bar, under Legal Resources > Precedents > Guides and Toolkits |
Linked services
- Intelligent Case Retrieval System (ICRS)
- Sentencing Information & Research Repository (SIR[DS6.1])
- India Supreme Court Cases via SCC Online
- CLJ Law
Research tools
- Boolean, phrase, wildcard and proximity search
- Citation search
- Result filters and sorting
- Search within results
- Case treatment, now shown as colour-coded indicators
- References panel
- Consolidates case law, legislation, litigation and other references, in card or table view
- Search-hit navigation within documents
- Download documents and supporting documents as PDF and print
Search: what’s changed
LawNet.com replaces Basic and Advanced Search with a single Classic Search box. It accepts Boolean queries, category search and plain-language queries. It also ranks results by legal relevance, not just by how often a keyword appears.
| LawNet.sg | LawNet.com |
|---|---|
| Search results could take more than 10 seconds to load. | Results load in under a second in most cases. |
| Without quotation marks, the words were treated as separate keywords rather than a phrase. | Recognises when your terms match catchwords, parties, coram or case titles, and weighs those matches higher. |
| Ranked by how often the term appears, without regard to court authority or case treatment. | Ranks decisions from higher courts, more recent cases and frequently followed cases higher. |
How LawNet.com decides what’s most relevant
Every result is scored on several factors together:
| Factor | What it means |
|---|---|
| Query understanding | Your query is broken down to detect phrases and legal entities. |
| Document structure | Matches in catchwords, parties and other metadata are considered more relevant than matches in the body text. |
| Term frequency | How often your search terms appear in the document. |
| Case treatment | How often a case has been referred to, followed, distinguished or overruled. |
| Court hierarchy | Higher courts rank first, e.g. SGCA > SGHC > SGDC. |
| Content category | Law Reports rank above unreported judgments and journals. |
| Recency | More recent decisions are given more weight. |
Quick tip: Looking for one specific case? Because ranking weighs authority and treatment as well as text, an exact title match may not be the first result. E.g. use title: “Panatron” or citation: “[2001] SGCA 49” for more precise searches.
Used to doing it on LawNet.sg? Here’s how on LawNet.com
Most LawNet.sg search tools have a direct equivalent. Some work differently now – here’s a guide to get the results you require.
| On LawNet.sg | On LawNet.com |
|---|---|
| Basic Search | Type keywords, a phrase or a plain-language question into Classic Search. Title suggestions appear as you type. |
| Advanced Search fields Title, parties, coram, citation, catchwords | Type a field tag in the search box: • title: “[search term]” • party: “[search term]” • coram: “[search term]” • citation: “[search term]” • catchword: “[search term]” Then narrow by content type, jurisdiction, court and date using the available filters. |
| Boolean, phrase, wildcard and proximity search | Supported as before: • AND • OR • NOT • “exact phrase” • NEAR/n Open Search Tips next to the search box for a quick reference. |
| Search results snippets | Every result has a Hits bar showing where your terms appear. Click Preview to see details, matching text, facts, holdings and full text without leaving the results page. |
| Search within results | Use the Search within results bar. Go back to your original results from the breadcrumb. |
| Reference Trace (cases) | Search the case citation or title, e.g. title: “Panatron”, to find the case and the cases that refer to it. Open a case and check References in the right-hand panel for citing and cited cases. |
| Reference Trace (legislation) | Until Reference Trace for local legislation launches, use proximity search, e.g. “Penal Code 1871” NEAR “379”. For the statutes in the Legislation module, open the provision to see the judgments and books that refer to it. |
| Subject Browse | Search with catchword:, e.g. catchword: “breach of contract”, then refine with filters. |
| Latest Updates | Sort results by latest decision date or see the updates on Singapore Law Watch. |
| Download / print a document | Use the download icon at the top right of a document, or the menu next to it for Print and Save as PDF. You can also download up to 50 documents at once from the results list. |
| Login and password | Sign in with your SAL ID. If you’re coming from LawNet.sg, link your account at lawnet.com/migrate. |
Search operators and examples
To search a specific part of a document, use category search operators. You can combine them with Boolean operators for more precision.
| Operator | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| title: | Finds cases matching the title, including cases that have referred to it. | title: “Panatron” |
| citation: | Finds only the case with that citation. | citation: “[2001] SGCA 49” |
| party: | Finds cases involving the named parties. | party: “Spandeck” AND “DSTA” |
| coram: | Finds cases heard by the named judge. | coram: “Yong Pung How CJ” |
| catchword: | Searches the catchwords of cases. | catchword: “breach of contract” AND catchword: “negligence” |
| Boolean + fields | Combine phrases, operators and tags. | “breach of contract” AND coram: “V K Rajah J” |
| Plain-language search | Type your question in everyday words to get a quick overview of a topic. | Elements of fraudulent misrepresentation in contract |
| Precise Boolean search | Use quotation marks and operators when you need comprehensive, exact results. | “fraudulent misrepresentation” AND “contract” |
Search FAQ
- Why don’t my search results match the typeahead suggestions?
Typeahead suggests the closest matching case titles and parties. Classic Search looks for matches across the whole document, so it returns a broader set of results.
- Why does a plain-language query seem less exhaustive than Boolean search?
Plain-language search is meant for a quick overview of a topic. For comprehensive, precise research, use Boolean operators, quoted phrases and field tags.
- Why isn’t the case with the exact title at the top of my results?
Relevance takes into account text matches, court hierarchy, case treatment and recency, so an exact title match may not be the top result. Use title: “…” to find a specific case.
- Where is Reference Trace for legislation?
It is in development. In the meantime, search for the Act and provision with NEAR, e.g. “Penal Code 1871” NEAR “379”.
Coming soon on LawNet.com
By 1 December 2026
- Civil Litigation Update
- Reference Trace for local legislation
- SPH Newslink
- PSS-INLIS, InteReq and eLitigation (from the pre-login page)
Not currently available
- Full legislation database (see Singapore Statutes Online)
- Press Articles; Papers and Reports
- Latest Updates (see Singapore Law Watch)
- Alert Me, Saved Searches, Research History
- Bookmarks, My Notes and annotation highlights
- Email a Link; print or save a results list
- Time My Research; custom highlight settings
- Account administration and Pay Per Use (remain on LawNet.sg until further notice)
Last updated 20 October 2026. For help, contact the LawNet help desk at [email protected]. See the LawNet release notes (release-notes.lawnet.com) for the latest changes.
Leave a Reply