Law databases are collections of primary (legislation and case law) and secondary (books and journals) sources of legal information. They are used by law students, academics and lawyers to conduct legal research for the purpose of study, research and practice.
Legal guidance databases are a subset of law databases for lawyers in practice. They provide overviews, practice notes, standard forms, checklists and current awareness for those providing legal advice in-house or to external clients.
Legislation is the laws made by Parliament, and they include Acts/Statutes (primary legislation) and Statutory Instruments (secondary legislation).
Print legislation including Statutes at Large, Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, Law Reports Statutes, Public General Acts and Measures and Current Law Statutes Annotated are available from shelf mark 41 P 22 on the 4th floor of the library.
Case law is the laws made by the Courts, and the decisions of courts are published as judgments and law reports.
Print law reports including the English Reports, The Law Reports, Weekly Law Reports, Current Law Yearbook and The Digest are available from shelf mark 41 R 85 on the 4th floor of the library.
Current awareness services keep students, academics and lawyers up-to-date with new developments in the law.
Both Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK offer current awareness email alert services.
Create a current awareness alert on Lexis+ UK:
Create a current awareness alert on Westlaw UK:
Lexis+ UK
Lexis+ UK is a key legal research database from Lexis Nexis, including UK and EU primary and secondary sources of legal information, and practical legal guidance.
Lexis+ UK also includes a range of legal information from foreign jurisdictions in the International section. This includes legislation, case law and journals from Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America.
Westlaw UK
Westlaw UK is a key legal research database from Thomson Reuters, including UK and EU primary and secondary sources of legal information.
Westlaw UK also includes a range of legal information from foreign jurisdictions in the Westlaw International and Westlaw US sections. This includes legislation, case law and journals from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Korea and the United States of America.
Practical Law is a companion legal guidance database from Thomson Reuters. It provides overviews, practice notes and standard forms to lawyers. The University of Warwick Library does not have a subscription to Practical Law. For legal guidance materials, please use content on Lexis+ UK. Some employability resources for law students are freely available in the Law School Resource Centre section of Practical Law.
HeinOnline
HeinOnline is a legal research database from William S Hein, including foreign and international primary and secondary sources of legal information.
HeinOnline includes the Law Journal Library, featuring 3,200 full-text law journals with strong North American coverage, and the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals which indexes 800+ law journals across the world, with a strong focus on foreign and comparative law.
For comparative lawyers, HeinOnline includes World Constitutions Illustrated which features full-text constitutions (and English language translations) of 190+ countries plus constitutional histories and related legal commentaries.
It also features legislation and case law (and other political sources) from North America:
For historians, HeinOnline includes early legal materials including Classic Texts, Early American Case Law, English Reports and special collections on Slavery and Women.
Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK are the recommended databases for UK legal research. The following databases include case law, parliamentary information, legislation, and historical legal information.
British and Irish Legal Information Institute [OPEN ACCESS]
BAILII (Bailey) is an open access law database including primary and secondary sources of UK legal information.
BAILII is best know for coverage of case law, including decisions of the Privy Council, Supreme Court, House of Lords, Court of Appeal and Tribunals. It also includes case law from Jersey and St Helena, and Law Commission reports.
Find Case Law [OPEN ACCESS]
Find Case Law is a new open access law database from The National Archives featuring UK case law from 2003 to date.
Find Case Law includes judgments and decisions of cases from the Supreme Court, Privy Council, Court of Appeal, England & Wales High Courts, Court of Protection, Family Court, Employment Appeal Tribunal, and other selected Tribunals.
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary [OPEN ACCESS]
Official website of the Judiciary providing an overview of all courts and tribunals including Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, England and Wales High Courts, and Tribunals with link to daily lists, court sittings and decisions/judgments.
Supreme Court [OPEN ACCESS]
The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for UK civil cases and English, Welsh and Northern Irish criminal cases.
The official website of The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Includes permissions to appeal, court listings, current cases and decided case, and live/recorded videos of court proceedings.
Old Bailey Online [OPEN ACCESS]
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey is a digital archive of almost 200,000 trials held at the Central Criminal Court, London (The Old Bailey) from 1674 to 1913. The archive also includes the Ordinary of Newgate's Accounts containing biographies of criminals executed at Tyburn from 1676 to 1772.
Parliament UK [OPEN ACCESS]
Official website of the UK Parliament at Westminster, covering the work of the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Features the daily business of the UK parliament, including live proceedings via Parliament TV. Also includes parliamentary papers and reports including Bills (1988-date) and Hansard (1802-date).
UK Parliamentary Papers
UK Parliamentary Papers is an historical archive of parliamentary papers from the House of Commons (1715-2022) and House of Lords (1800-1910).
Features Journals (1688-1834), Bills and Acts (1695-2022), Command Papers (1802-2022), Debates and Hansard (1774-2005) and Public Petitions (1833-1918).
Legislation.Gov.UK [OPEN ACCESS]
Legislation.Gov.UK is the official website of UK legislation from 1267 to date.
Features the full-text of all Acts of Parliament (Statutes) and Statutory Instruments published in the United Kingdom including devolved legislation from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Public Information Online
Public Information Online is a database of the official publications of the UK parliament and government.
Features parliamentary papers from the House of Commons (1951-date) and House of Lords (1801-date), Bills (1919-date), Public General Acts (1900-date), Private Acts (1991-date), Command papers (1835-date), Hansard (1803-date), the Civil Service Yearbook and non-parliamentary publications from government departments and agencies.
Early English Laws [OPEN ACCESS]
A research project to translate and publish all early English legal codes, edicts and treatises up to Magna Carta in 1215.
Statutes of the Realm
Historical collection of the Acts of Parliament of England from 1235 to 1713 available in 11 volumes via HeinOnline.
Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum
Historical collection of Acts of Parliament of England passed during the Interregnum from 1642 to 1662 available via British History Online.
Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK both contain legal materials on the European Union including legislation, case law and journal articles.
Other key law reports and journals on European Union law are available here:
European Sources Online [OPEN ACCESS]
European Sources Online (ESO) is a guide to and search engine for EU information from the Cardiff European Documentation Centre.
ESO includes primary and official sources, commentary, media reports, journal articles, blog posts, monographs and textbooks.
EUR-Lex [OPEN ACCESS]
EUR-Lex is the official legal publications website of the European Union including treaties, legislation, case law and the Official Journal (OJ).
CURIA [OPEN ACCESS]
CURIA is the official website of the Court of Justice of the European Union with full-text judgments, opinions and summaries of cases from the Court of Justice and General Court.
European Parliament [OPEN ACCESS]
Official website of the European Parliament, including Members of European Parliament (MEPs), the Plenary, Committees and Delegations.
Kluwer Law Online
Kluwer Law Online publishes many academic law journals focused on European Union law including Common Market Law Review, European Public Law, and European Review of Private Law.
FLAG Foreign Law Guide [OPEN ACCESS]
Search engine to find print holdings of foreign, comparative and international law collections in UK academic and research libraries from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
Constitute Project [OPEN ACCESS]
The Constitute Project is a database of the world's constitutions in English translation, enabling researchers to read and compare global constitutional law.
Encyclopedia of Comparative Law
225+ articles outlining the law of foreign countries and comparing laws on topics across foreign jurisdictions.
Europa World Plus
Online version of Europa World Yearbook and Regional Surveys of the World with country, region and international organisation profiles including social, political, economic and legal information.
Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK
Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK both contain legal materials on selected foreign legal jurisdictions in their 'International' content areas.
WorldLII [OPEN ACCESS]
WorldLII is the World Legal Information Institute. It hosts 1800+ databases, with legislation and case law from 120+ jurisdictions, via 14 legal information institutes.
Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law
The Collected Courses are a series of monographs on public and private international law published by the Hague Academy.
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)
CIAO is a database of scholarship on international politics and related fields including security studies, global finance, development studies, and humanitarian law. It indexes books, journals, working papers and policy reports from governments, think-tanks and research institutes.
FLAG Foreign Law Guide [OPEN ACCESS]
Search engine to find print holdings of foreign, comparative and international law collections in UK academic and research libraries from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
Jus Mundi
Jus Mundi is a legal research platform and current awareness service for international law and international arbitration law. It holds primary and secondary research materials, including international treaties (bilateral and multilateral), international cases (decisions, opinions, pleadings) and rules of arbitration.
Oxford Bibliographies on International Law
Guides to current scholarship in International law and International relations, including research articles with list of sources (bibliography) on a topic.
United Nations Documents [OPEN ACCESS]
Access official publications of the United Nations, including General Assembly and Security Council. Includes UN Journal, UN Yearbook, minutes of meetings and reports of conferences. Search for publications via the Official Documents System (ODS) or browse publications via the UN Digital Library
Flare Index to Treaties [OPEN ACCESS]
Search engine to find 2,000+ significant multilateral and bilateral treaties from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) [OPEN ACCESS]
Full text of 560+ United Nations multilateral treaties, including signatories, reservations, communications and entry into force.
UK Treaties Online (UKTO) [OPEN ACCESS]
Full text of all UK multilateral treaties which have entered into force.
International Court of Justice (ICJ) [OPEN ACCESS]
Decisions of the ICJ including pending cases, judgments, advisory opinions and orders
International Law Reports (ILR)
The complete archive (from volume 1 1932) of the International Law Reports is a key series of international law reports from the Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge.
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea [OPEN ACCESS]
Decisions of the ITLOS tribunal including advisory opinions and the digest of jurisprudence.
Climate Change and the Law
A collection of original documents and grey literature on climate change incorporating corporate, environmental and human rights law.
GreenFILE
Indexes books, journals and other scholarly information on the human impact on the environment including climate change and sustainable development.
WIPO Lex [OPEN ACCESS]
WIPO Lex is a database of global intellectual property law from the World Intellectual Property Organisation, including treaties, legislation and case law.
Investment Arbitration Reporter
IA Reporter offers news and analysis of international investment treaty arbitration including latest cases, decisions and awards. Browse for news by country, process, treaty, and industry.
Jus Mundi
Jus Mundi is a legal research platform and current awareness service for international law and international arbitration law. It holds primary and secondary research materials, including international treaties (bilateral and multilateral), international cases (decisions, opinions, pleadings) and rules of arbitration.
[Access to Jus Mundi is via individual account. Complete this form to request an individual account. You will then be prompted to register using your @warwick email address.]
Kluwer Arbitration
Kluwer Arbitration is a collection of key books and journals, conventions and treaties, awards and court decisions on international arbitration.
[Login is via username and password available from University Library Passwords webpage].
UNCITRAL [OPEN ACCESS]
Official website and publications of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) featuring conventions, model laws and case decisions on international commercial arbitration and dispute resolution.
Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law
The Collected Courses are a series of monographs on public and private international law published by the Hague Academy.
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)
CIAO is a database of scholarship on international politics and related fields including security studies, global finance, development studies, and humanitarian law. It indexes books, journals, working papers and policy reports from governments, think-tanks and research institutes.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [OPEN ACCESS]
The United Nations human rights agency, including news, press releases, official publications, research databases, and Human Rights Council session reports.
Oxford Public International Law (OPIL)
Collection of research information on public international law including Oxford Reports on International Law (ORIL), Max Planck Encyclopaedias of International Law (MPEIL), and Oxford Scholarly Authorities in International Law (OSAIL).
African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights [OPEN ACCSS]
Decisions of the African Court including pending cases, decisions, judgments, and the African Court Law Reports and the African Human Rights Yearbook.
HUDOC: European Court of Human Rights [OPEN ACCESS]
Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights including judgments, decisions and advisory opinions.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights [OPEN ACCESS]
Decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights including pending cases, provisional measures, judgments and orders, and compliance monitoring.
International Criminal Court (ICC) [OPEN ACCESS]
News, investigations and case law on genocide and war crimes, including judgments, decisions and orders of the International Criminal Courts.
Oxford Reports on International Law (ORIL)
Oxford Reports on International Law is a key series of public international law reports covering international law in domestic courts, international criminal courts, and ad hoc tribunals.
Council of Europe Treaty Office [OPEN ACCESS]
Full text of Council of Europe treaties, including signatories, ratifications, reservations, communications and entry into force.
In law, cases are referenced using a legal citation. The legal citation is a combination of numbers and letters.
Cases may have multiple citations: the neutral citation refers to the judgment, and the report citation refers to the law report.
Case name: Google LLV v Lloyd
Neutral citation: [2021] UKSC 50
Report citation: [2021] 3 WLR 1268
The examples given on this guide are for UK case law - but EU, foreign and international case law follow similar citation conventions.
Neutral Citations refer to the judgment of a case by year, court and case number.
Abbreviation is the official abbreviation of the court:
Year in [square brackets] is the year of the decision of the case.
Number is a running number given to each case in a year
Report Citations refer to a report of the case in a published law report.
Abbreviation is the official short form of the law report:
Year is in (round brackets) if the journal has a volume number, or [square brackets] if the journal does not have a volume number.
Page number is only the first page (the end page is not required).
A case may be reported in more than one law report. Where possible, read the most authoritative law report available.
On law databases. the citations to law reports are generally given in order of authority with the most authoritative first.
European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) citations are a type of neutral citation introduced by the European Union. They refer to a case by the country, court, year and case number.
Do you need help understanding legal citations and abbreviations?
Cardiff Index to
Legal Abbreviations
You can find official legal abbreviations using the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations. You can search by abbreviation (to find the title) and title (to find the abbreviation.
Discover a range of library and study skills guides including how to study law, how to think critically, and how to write law essays and prepare for examinations.
Discover how to find legislation, case law, and journal articles using law databases, including Doing Legal Research online course and Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK law database training and certification courses.
Discover how to avoid plagiarism, how to use the OSCOLA legal referencing style, and how to manage references with EndNote referencing software.
Discover the library's support for researchers including literature searching, reference management, research data management, open access and publishing, and research metrics.
