LINKS FOR LAWYERS
This selection of legal web sites is intended as a signpost for barristers and students doing electronic research. Extensive lists of resources are shown in the portals and gateway sites given below.
The internet is accessible from all the catalogue terminals. You may print for 10p per page: please pay at the Enquiry Desk.
If you are interested in European or Human Rights information, you may find the leaflet European and Human Rights information online more relevant.
NB This list is updated regularly, but please be aware that internet addresses can change without warning.
BASICS
Internet for Lawyers (a free tutorial of internet information skills intended mainly for university students)
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/lawyers
Google (this search engine seems to be particularly reliable for legal searches)
www.google.com or www.google.co.uk
Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations (an index of over 12,000 abbreviations, covering over 295 jurisdictions)
www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk
OSCOLA - Oxford Standard Citation of Legal Authorities (this product of Oxford University Faculty of Law is designed to faciilitate accurate citation of authorities, legislation and other legal materials)
http://denning.law.ox.ac.uk/published/oscola.shtml
LIBRARY SUBSCRIPTIONS
Please ask a member of staff if you need help with logging on or using these databases:-
All England Direct (online version of All England Reports)
Casetrack (maintained by Smith Bernal, this database provides full text of judgments of the Court of Appeal and High Court, as well as selected judgments of the European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights, and access to cases from Northern Ireland and Irish courts. See also Casebase below under “General Sources”)
Electronic Immigration Network (claims to be the most comprehensive electronic source of immigration case law in the UK, with a vast directory of links to relevant sites both in the UK and worldwide, and quarterly EIN Newsletters)
Lawtel (useful alerting service for recent legislation and cases, including full text transcripts)
Westlaw UK (contains cases from 1865, consolidated legislation since 1267 and SIs from 1948, plus Legal Journals Index for journals since 1986)
PORTALS AND GATEWAYS
Access To Law.com ( A list of legal resources selected by Inner Temple Library, mainly covering the UK and Commonwealth jurisdictions)
www.accesstolaw.com
Delia Venables’ Portal to Legal resources in the UK and Ireland (Includes legal sites and resources worldwide, particularly useful for new developments.)
www.venables.co.uk
eagle-i (site maintained by Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, offering access to global legal information, arranged by topic and jurisdiction, and a list of electronic law journals)
http://ials.sas.ac.uk/eaglei/eagle-i.htm
Electronic System for International Law (developed by the American Society for International law to ensure easy access to primary materials, authoritative websites and helpful research guides to international law on the internet)
www.eisil.org
GLIN - Guide to Law Online ( prepared by Law Library of Congress - an annotated worldwide guide to sources of information on government and law, with selected links to reliable sites)
http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide.html
LAWLINKS (Legal information on the internet: an annotated list of web sites, maintained at the University of Kent)
http://www.kent.ac.uk/lawlinks/
Intute: Social Sciences (formerly SOSIG Law Gateway) (part of the Social Science Information Gateway, providing guidance and access to global legal information resources)
http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/
LEGAL PROFESSION
Association of Women Barristers (represents, supports and furthers interests of women barristers, provides professional, business and social activities, offers courses to improve opportunities for women barristers and fosters contact with other women lawyers, both nationally and internationally)
www.womenbarristers.co.uk
The Bar Council (The General Council of the Bar is the Approved Regulator of the Bar of England and Wales.)
www.barcouncil.org.uk
Bar Directory (a joint venture between the Bar Council and Sweet & Maxwell, this online version includes information on chambers and practising barristers in independent practice in UK only) http://www.legalhub.co.uk/legalhub/app/appinit
Bar Pro Bono Unit (web site created free by Justis Publishing Ltd describes work of unit, procedure for getting help, how to volunteer, etc)
www.barprobono.org.uk
Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession (searchable by law firm/ company, individual lawyer or specialisation; directory of the world’s leading lawyers at same site)
www.chambersandpartners.com
Judicial Studies Board (the JSB is directly responsible for training judges in England & Wales and overseeing the training of lay magistrates, chairmen and members of tribunals. Site contains information on committees, publications including Bench Books, and links to relevant websites)
www.jsboard.co.uk
The Law Library of Ireland (the Irish Bar Council’s website, including a directory of barristers)
www.lawlibrary.ie
Law Society of Ireland (relaunched site includes a directory of Irish firms)
www.lawsociety.ie
Legal 500 (lists recommended law firms and lawyers worldwide)
www.legal500.com or www.icclaw.com
legaleducation.org.uk (the Bar Council’s education and training web site)
http://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/
Martindale-Hubbell
Lawyer Locator (directory of American and international lawyers)www.martindale.com
Pupillage Portal (formerly OLPAS) (the Bar Council’s online pupillage application system)
http://www.pupillages.com/index.asp
Solicitors' Code of Conduct Up-to-date version:
www.rules.sra.org.uk
for pre-2007 rules see:
www.lawsociety.org.uk/professional/conduct/guideonline.law
GENERAL SOURCES OF LAW
AsianLII (the latest project from the Free Access to Law Movement, providing access to 216 legal databases from 28 Asian countries and territories)
www.asianlii.org
AUSTLII (Australian Legal Information Institute - the pioneers in making legislation and case law freely available)
www.austlii.edu.au
BAILII (British and Irish Legal Information Institute is committed to providing free access to a comprehensive collection of British and Irish legal materials, as well as linking to similar sites worldwide. The site now includes over 200 pre-1996 Law Commission reports.)
www.bailii.org
CANLII (Canadian Legal Information Institute - offers access to Canadian legal materials)
www.canlii.org
CommonLII (The Commonwealth Legal Information Institute provides a search facility for free core legal information from the whole Commonwealth, covering 756 databases from 59 countries, including The English Reports 1220-1873)
www.commonlii.org
House of Lords (information on judicial work of the House of Lords, including links to judgments and other material related to the Law Lords and their work)
http://www.parliament.uk/judicial_work/judicial_work4.cfm
IRLII (Irish Legal Information Initiative - maintained by University College Cork to provide recent cases and legislation not yet included on BAILII)
http://www.ucc.ie/law/irlii/index.php
NZLII (currently offers free access to 41 databases of legal information in New Zealand)
www.nzlii.org
SAFLII (free access to South African legal information)
www.saflii.org
WorldLII (a collaboration of various Legal Information Institutes and other institutions, offering free, independent and non-profit access to worldwide law including International Court of Justice decisions since 1993)
www.worldlii.org
ONLINE JOURNALS
Electronic Law Journals Project 1996- (established at University of Warwick to provide free access to the following electronic titles: Journal of Information Law and Technology; Law, Social Justice and Global Development; Entertainment and Sports Law Journal)
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj
European Journal of International Law (1990 - to date. Carries a range of features which are not available to those who consult the hard copy version of the Journal. )
http://www.ejil.org/journal/fte.html
Law Journals on the Worldwide Web (Lists law journals on the web with some substantive full-text content)
www.law.cam.ac.uk/resources_jour.php
Law Society Gazette (Ireland) (1997- )
www.lawsociety.ie/gazette.aspx?groupID=164&node=164
CHANNEL ISLANDS
Guernsey Bar (a directory of the Guernsey Bar and an introduction to Guernsey law and procedure plus a law dictionary and links to other Channel Island, French and EU legal websites)
www.guernseybar.com
Guernsey Legal Resources (access to laws and ordinances 1980- , Guernsey Law Reports 2005- ,
unreported judgments 2006- , Guernsey Law Journal 1985-2009 and link to Jersey and Guernsey Law Review)
http://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/ccm/portal/
Law Officers of the Crown (Official Guernsey government website, currently under development, contains texts of selected legislation)
http://www.gov.gg/ccm/navigation/government/law-officers/
Jersey Legal Information Board (official source of legal information in Jersey, including Laws in Force, Jersey Law reports 1981-2005, unreported judgments from 1997 & Practice Directions of the Royal Court and Jersey and Guernsey Law Review)
http://www.jerseylaw.je/
COMMERCIAL LAW
Lex Mercatoria (International trade and commercial law monitor, extended to include other areas of international law; provides extensive free international law links and materials)
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/
COMPETITION LAW
Competition Appeal Tribunal (for full text of judgments in appeals and details of other applications and claims involving competition or economic regulatory issues)
www.catribunal.org.uk
Competition Commission (this site covers the work of the Competition Commission, which replaced the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in 1999. It includes full text and summaries of reports since 1950)
www.competition-commission.org.uk
CRIMINAL COURTS
Criminal Courts Review (report of the Right Honourable Lord Justice Auld, September 2001)
www.criminal-courts-review.org.uk
International Criminal Court (This site contains basic documents, eg the Rome Statute, information on the Court and its cases, Rules of Procedure and Evidence and job vacancies)
www.icc-cpi.int
Youth Court Bench Book (Available on Judicial Studies Baord website)
www.estudo.co.uk/jsb/course/view.php?id=9&topic=5
EMPLOYMENT LAW
ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service website covers employment topics, press releases and publications)
www.acas.org.uk
Employment Appeal Tribunal (includes full text of EAT judgments transcribed since 1999 and selected judgments from other hearings, plus practice directions, cause lists and information on procedures)
www.employmentappeals.gov.uk
FAMILY LAW
Family Law Week (news of recent cases and legislation, articles and resources on all aspects of family law. The site is free but registration is required)
www.familylawweek.co.uk
FORMS
Capform (a free service offering over 1,000 government forms from eg Companies House, Court Service, Customs & Excise, Inland Revenue, Land Registry, Patent Office, Scottish Court Service and Insolvency Service)
www.capform.co.uk
GIBRALTAR
Laws of Gibraltar (This Gibraltar Government website contains all primary and secondary legislation consolidated to date)
www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi
GOVERNMENT
BOPCRIS (British Official Publications Collaborative Reader Information Service) (aims to save researchers wasting valuable time and effort finding British official publications from 1688 to 1995. It is possible to search full-text or browse by subject)
www.bopcris.ac.uk
Companies House (responsible for the registration and provision of UK company information)
www.companies-house.gov.uk
Crown Prosecution Service (includes Code for Crown Prosecutors)
www.cps.gov.uk
Her Majesty’s Courts Service (an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, responsible for managing the magistrates’ courts, Crown Court, county courts, High Court and Court of Appeal - details of all court locations, hearing lists, information on procedures and processes, forms and guidance, annual reports, business plans and a glossary of common Latin and legal terms used in court)
www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk
Judiciary of England and Wales (the official website of judges, tribunal members and magistrates offers an insight into the working lives of judicial office holders in England and Wales, eg biographical details of senior judges, forms of address, judicial statistics, court dress)
www.judiciary.gov.uk
Law Commission (includes full text of Reports and Consultation Papers since 1996)
www.lawcom.gov.uk
Ministry of Justice
http://www.justice.gov.uk
Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) (HMSO’s successor contains full text of UK legislation since 1988 with Explanatory Notes for acts since 1999 and links to new legislation and most requested acts)
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/
Parliament (information about House of Commons and House of Lords, including Hansard debates and transcripts of recent judgments)
www.parliament.uk
Parliamentlive.tv (live webcasting of Parliament, including Select Committees)
www.parliamentlive.tv//Main/
The Supreme Court (information about court procedures, current cases, texts of judgments)
www.supremecourt.gov.uk
Tagish’s Directory (comprehensive list of UK central and local government websites and world government related sites)
www.tagish.co.uk/links
The UK Statute Law Database (SLD) (the official revised edition of the primary legislation of the UK made available online. The database contains primary legislation in force at 1 February 1991 and subsequent legislation. Statutory instruments from 1991 may also be accessed)
www.statutelaw.gov.uk
HUMAN RIGHTS
Council of Europe Treaty Office website (for texts of Council of Europe conventions, in English, French, Italian, German and Russian, and Chart showing signatures and ratifications...)
http://conventions.coe.int
European Court of Human Rights (information about the Court and judgments free on date of delivery on Hudoc database)
www.echr.coe.int
Human Rights Update (an initiative of 1 Crown Office Row, containing material previously available only on Lawtel. Contains over 400 reports and commentaries dating back to 1998, as well as articles prepared by members of chambers and a commentary on the ECHR and HRA. A weekly e-mail update is also available.)
www.humanrights.org.uk/5/text.nc
Interights - International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (includes summaries of recent decisions from Commonwealth jurisdictions and tribunals applying international human rights law, as well as links to regional and national bodies and tribunals and relevant national sites)
www.interights.org
International Court of Justice (cases referred to the ICJ since 1946, information about the Court and basic UN documents, including the Charter)
Lawtel Human Rights (a comprehensive information service on the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998 and their interpretation by domestic courts. It is also possible to search the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. NB Subscription required)
www.lawtel.com
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (a statutory body established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, in compliance with the Good Friday Agreement, to ensure the full protection of the human rights of everyone in Northern Ireland)
www.nihrc.org
YourRights (Liberty’s online guide to human rights law in England and Wales)
www.yourrights.org.uk
IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM
European Country of Origin Network (ECOI) (a gateway for country resources for asylum and refugee lawyers, including reports and national laws)
www.ecoi.net
Electronic Immigration Network (See under Library Subscriptions above)
Immigration and Asylum Chambers (Tribunals Service) (replace the former Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. The only authoritative public source of IAT/AIT determinations.)
www.tribunals.gov.uk/ImmigrationAsylum/
www.tribunals.gov.uk/ImmigrationAsylum/utiac/
UK Border Agancy (a Home Office website devoted to matters relating to immigration, nationality and asylum)
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk
INFORMATION LAW
Panopticon (a new blog maintained by 11 KBW's Information Law Practice Group)
http://www.panopticonblog.com
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
CLEA (Collection of Laws for Electronic Access) (a unique international electronic archive of intellectual property legislation and multilateral treaties, including a bibliographic index in English and full-text database in English, French and Spanish)
http://www.wipo.int/clea/en/index.jsp
NORTHERN IRELAND
Libero (portal set up Law Society of Northern Ireland covering Northern Ireland legal materials since 2002. Please ask staff at Enquiry Desk to log you on)
http://www.lawsoc-ni.org
esp@cenet (Patent Office offers published European and worldwide patent applications in original language and English abstract )
http://gb.espacenet.com
PERSONAL INJURIES
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (includes online guides to the scheme and application forms, as well as links to the CICAP (Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel) website www.cicap.gov.uk, with details of the appeals procedure and relevant forms)
www.cica.gov.uk
SCOTLAND
The Faculty of Advocates (access to a range of information in relation to the Faculty of Advocates, its members and the services they provide, including contact details, an on-line version of the Faculty Directory and information to assist practitioners involved in, or considering, Direct Professional Access.
www.advocates.org.uk
Scottish Courts web site (access point to information on all civil and criminal courts in Scotland)
www.scotcourts.gov.uk
Scottish Law Commission (part of the BAILII database, containing a selection of publications, including Consultation papers since 2003, Discussion Papers since 1997 and Reports since 1989)
www.bailii.org/scot/other/SLC
Scottish Law Online (an independent portal for anyone interested in Scots law)
www.scottishlaw.org.uk
SPORT
Tribunal Arbitral du Sport – Court of Arbitration for Sport (an independent arbitration body set up to settle sports-related disputes. The site includes transcripts of the most recent decisions)
www.tas-cas.org
TREATIES
United Nations Treaty Collection (full text and information on ratificationand status of treaties deposited with UN since 1946, and League of Nations treaty series 1920-1944)
www.treaties.un.org
US LAW
American Bar Association Lawlink (A gateway to resources on federal, state and international legislation, the American legal profession, legal research and business and reference information)
www.abanet.org/lawlink
American Law Sources Online (ALSO) (a compilation of links to free online source of US and Canadian law - covers both Federal and State legislation)
www.lawsource.com/also
Federal Courts Finder (provides links to opinions of individual Courts of Appeal)
www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS
FindLaw (a useful site covering Federal and State laws: codes, statutes, regulations, historical documents and background information on US courts and government; also Supreme Court decisions since 1999 and opinions from Courts of Appeal)
www.findlaw.com/casecode
Google Scholar (now gives full-text legal opinions from US federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts, as well as links to other opinions and articles citing them. Use "Advanced Scholar Search")
http://scholar.google.co.uk
Lawyers.com (site maintained by LexisNexis, with basic information, legal forms and other documents, and a directory of lawyers, for various areas of U.S. law )
http://www.lawyers.com
Legal Information Institute (Cornell University) (text of federal and state legislation, court opinions and law directories - a good source for searching codes and updating GPO site)
www.law.cornell.edu
lexisONE (site maintained by LexisNexis, offering reports for all US Supreme Court cases, recent federal and state cases and legal forms; registration is free)
www.lexisone.com
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) (there is a small charge for this service - 8 cents per page – which offers opinions of Circuit and District Courts)
http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/psco/cgi-bin/links.pl
Supreme Court (contains judgments since 1991, including the latest slip opinions)
www.supremecourtus.gov
THOMAS (a service of the Library of Congress, covering activities of Congress, text of bills with status and public laws (1973 to date))
http://thomas.loc.gov
US Government Printing Office (The GPO aims to provide public access to official government information products, eg history of bills with full text of each version and signed public and private laws, Congressional debates, US Code unannotated back to 1994)
www.gpoaccess.gov/legislative.html
US Law Library of Congress (information on the legal system , including sources, legal profession and Federal Court system)
www.loc.gov/law/index.html
LIBRARY CATALOGUES
If you do not have automatic right of access to these collections, please obtain permission before visiting.
British Library Public Catalogue (covers Document Supply Centre and London Reading Rooms)
http://catalogue.bl.uk
Cambridge University Library
www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newton
COPAC (union catalogues of 22 of the largest university research libraries in the UK)
www.copac.ac.uk
FLAG - Foreign Law Guide Project (a collaborative internet gateway to the holdings of foreign, international and comparative law in UK university and national libraries, maintained by Institute of Advanced Legal Studies)
http://ials.sas.ac.uk/library/flag/flag.htm
FLARE - Foreign Law Research (a collaboration between the major legal research libraries in the UK working to improve access to and exploitation of foreign, comparative and international materials at the national level)
http://ials.sas.ac.uk/flare/flare.htm
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (see SASCAT below)
King’s College London (Middle Templars may use KCL at weekends or for material not held by any Inn of Court, on production of appropriate ID)
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iss/library
Law Society Library Online
http://uk1.lexisnexis.com/LawSocietyLibrary/HomePage.aspx
SASCAT (includes Institute of Advanced Legal Studies)
http://library.sas.ac.uk
Oxford University Library
http://library.ox.ac.uk
University of London Library (Senate House)
www.ull.ac.uk
University of London List of Serials (Covers all journals in London University libraries and University of Westminster)
http://www.inform25.ac.uk/ULS/
LEGAL PUBLISHERS & BOOKSELLERS
Aspen http://www.aspenpublishers.com/default.asp?readcookie=N
Barry Rose http://www.barry-rose-law.co.uk/
Bloomsbury (formerly Tottel) www.tottelpublishing.com
Butterworths www.butterworths.co.uk
Cambridge University Press www.uk.cambridge.org
Hammicks www.hammickslegal.co.uk
Hart Publishing www.hartpub.co.uk
Informa (formerly LLP) http://www.informa.com/
Justis Publishing (formerly Context) www.justis.com
Kluwer Law International www.kluwerlaw.com
LexisNexis UK www.lexisnexis.co.uk
Oxford University Press (including Blackstone Press) www.oup.co.uk
Sweet & Maxwell www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk
TSO - The Stationery Office www.tso.co.uk
Westlaw UK www.westlaw.co.uk
