Free Online Resources

The Advocate's Gateway LogoThe Advocate's Gateway

  • Free access to practical, evidence-based guidance on vulnerable witnesses and defendants
  • Toolkits which provide advocates with general good practice guidance when preparing for trial in cases involving a witness or a defendant with communication needs
  • A list of recent cases relevant to responding to vulnerable witnesses and defendants
  • Publications and other resources relevant to responses to vulnerable witnesses and defendants

BAILII LogoBAILII

  • Free access to British and Irish legal materials online
  • Over 50 case law databases that cover both courts and tribunals
  • Transcripts from courts in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, UK, Ireland, Jersey and Europe
  • Links to world law resources covering Asia, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the USA and more

Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations LogoCardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations

  • Search for the meaning of abbreviations for English language legal publications, from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the United States
  • Publications from over 295 jurisdictions
  • Abbreviations covering international and comparative law
  • Covers a wide selection of major foreign language law publications

EUR - Lex LogoEUR-Lex

  • Free access, in the 24 official EU languages, to:
  • The Official Journal of the European Union
  • EU law (EU treaties, directives, regulations, decisions, consolidated legislation, etc.)
  • Preparatory acts (legislative proposals, reports, green and white papers, etc.)
  • EU case-law (judgements, orders, etc.)
  • International agreements
  • EFTA document and other public documents
  • Allows you to follow legislative procedures
  • Updated daily and contains more than 3 million items with some texts dating back to 1951

Flag LogoFLAG - Foreign Law Guide

  • Locate foreign, international and comparative law in the UK's academic, national and specialist law libraries
  • Provides key information about collections of foreign primary law materials, including:
  • Where to find foreign law in UK libraries
  • Print or microform collections of primary law in serial publication (legislation, law reports, digests, etc)
  • Collection descriptions and locations
  • Library contact and access details

GlobaLex LogoGlobaLex

  • A collection of international, foreign and comparative law research tools
  • Guides and articles written by scholars well known in their respective fields

Hudoc LogoHUDOC 

  • Case-law of the Court, including Grand Chamber, Chamber and Committee judgments, decisions, communicated cases, advisory opinions and legal summaries from the Case-Law Information Note
  • Decisions and reports of the European Commission of Human Rights and the resolutions of the Committee of Ministers
  • Press releases issued by the Registry since 1 January 1999, available in English and French

legislation.gov.uk Logolegislation.gov.uk

  • ALL legislation from 1988 to present day
  • Most pre-1988 primary legislation
  • In some cases only the original published (as enacted) version is available

Lexadin LogoLexadin

  • Legislation from around the world freely accessible online
  • More than 70,000 links to legal sites in over 180 countries
  • Organised alphabetically by country
  • Includes an array of different areas of law (administrative, civil, commercial, etc.) as well as constitutional and human rights laws, and a list of law sources

Logo for database of the National Archives EU Exit Web ArchiveThe National Archives EU Exit Web Archive

  • A wide selection of documents taken from EUR-Lex
  • Includes Treaties, legislative documents, the Official Journal of the EU, case law and other supporting materials, and judgements of the European Court of Justice in English, French and German
  • This collection will continue to be updated up until the UK's exit from the EU
  • Once the UK has left the European Union, it will provide a comprehensive and official UK reference point for EU law as it stood at the time of the UK's exit

The Supreme Court LogoThe Supreme Court

  • A video archive of past hearings that complements the court's existing live streaming service
  • View Current cases or Decided cases and access the morning and/or afternoon sessions on the dates that the case was heard

UK Treaties Online LogoUK Treaties Online

  • Over 14,000 treaties involving the UK
  • Research the existence of treaties
  • Find important information, such as the place and date of signature and entry into force date
  • See which states or organisations participate in them

UN Treaty Collection LogoUnited Nations Treaty Collection

  • Information on the status of over 500 major multilateral instruments deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • Includes the texts of reservations, declarations and objections
  • Covers a range of subject matter such as human rights, disarmament, commodities, refugees, the environment and the law of the sea

WorldLII LogoWorldLII

  • A single search facility for over 270 databases from 48 jurisdictions in 20 countries 
  • Decisions of international Courts and Tribunals, a number of Asian countries, and from South Africa
  • Case-law, legislation, treaties, law reform reports, law journals, and other materials are included