Primary legal materials are the authoritative records of law. These are:

• Legislation made by Parliament
• Rules, regulations, orders and by-laws of bodies that have delegated authority to administer these laws
• Authoritative reports of court decisions or case law

Secondary sources of law refer, discuss and help locate the law but are not primary sources.  They can help in understanding the law in specific areas.  If you don't know much about a topic start with general information and work towards more specific sources:

E.g. Legal dictionaries > legal encyclopedias > text books > journal articles.