Law: Databases

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

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

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

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 

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

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

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

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

Early English Laws is 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

Statutes of the Realm is a historical collection of the Acts of Parliament of England from 1235 to 1713 available in 11 volumes via the HeinOnline database.

Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum

Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum is a 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:

• Common Market Law Reports (CMLR) are EU law reports available via Westlaw UK. 
• Common Market Law Review (CML Rev) is an EU law journal available via Kluwer Law.
• European Law Review (EL Rev) is an EU law journal available via Westlaw UK.
• European Review of Private Law (ERPL) is an EU law journal available via Kluwer Law.

European Sources Online

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 

EUR-Lex is the official legal publications website of the European Union including treaties, legislation, case law and the Official Journal (OJ).

CURIA

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 

Official website of the European Parliament, including Members of European Parliament (MEPs), the Plenary, Committees and Delegations.

Kluwer Law Online

Kluwer Law Online is a collection of full-text 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 

The FLAG database is a 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 

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

The Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law is a collection of articles outlining the law of foreign countries and comparing laws on topics across foreign jurisdictions.

Europa World Plus

Europa World Plus is an 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.

WorldLII

WorldLII is the World Legal Information Institute. It hosts 1800+ databases, with legislation and case law from 120+ jurisdictions, via 14 legal information institutes.

Africa

• Africa: AfricanLII
• Kenya: Kenya Law
• South Africa: SAFLII, Lexis+ UK
• Tanzania: Juta Law
• Uganda: ULII
• Zambia: Juta Law
• Zimbabwe: Juta Law

America

• Canada: CanLII, Lexis+ UK, Westlaw UK
• USA: Google Scholar, GovInfo, LII (Cornell), Lexis+ UK, Westlaw UK

Asia

• Asia: AsianLII
• Hong Kong: HKLII, Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK
• India: Lexis+ UK
• Korea: Westlaw UK
• Malaysia: Lexis+ UK
• Philippines: LawPhil

Europe

• France: Légifrance, Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK
• Germany: Legislation: Bundesgesetzblatt, Gesetze im Internet
• Germany: Case Law: Bundesverfassungsgerichts (BVerfG), Bundesgerichtshof (BGH), Bundesarbeitsgericht (BAG), Bundesfinanzhofs (BFH), Bundessozialgerichts (BSG), Bundesverwaltungsgerichts (BVerwG), Bundespatentgerichts (BPG)  
• Italy: Normattiva
• Spain: Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE)

Oceania

• Australia: AustLII, Lexis+ UK, and Westlaw UK
• New Zealand: NZLII and Lexis+ UK
• Pacific Islands: PacLII

General International Law

Collected Courses of the Hague Academy

The Collected Courses are a series of monographs on public and private international law published by the Hague Academy of International Law.

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

The FLAG database is a 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

Oxford Bibliographies are guides to current scholarship including International law and International relations, with research articles with list of sources (bibliography) on a topic.

United Nations Documents 

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

International Treaties

Flare Index to Treaties 

The Flare Index is a search engine to find 2,000+ significant multilateral and bilateral treaties from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS)

The United Nations Treaty Series is a full-text database of 560+ United Nations multilateral treaties, including signatories, reservations, communications and entry into force.

UK Treaties Online (UKTO)

UK Treaties Online is a full-text database of all UK multilateral treaties which have entered into force.

International Cases

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Decisions of the ICJ including pending cases, judgments, advisory opinions and orders

International Law Reports (ILR)

The complete archive 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

Decisions of the ITLOS tribunal including advisory opinions and the digest of jurisprudence.

Environment

Climate Change and the Law

A collection of original documents and grey literature on climate change incorporating corporate, environmental and human rights law.

GreenFILE

GreenFILE is an index and abstract database of books, journals and other scholarly information on the human impact on the environment including climate change and sustainable development.

Intellectual Property

WIPO Lex

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. 

[To access Jus Mundi's email alert service, users must login with an individual account. To request an individual Jus Mundi account, please complete this short form].

Kluwer Arbitration

Kluwer Arbitration is a collection of key books and journals, conventions and treaties, awards and court decisions on international arbitration.

UNCITRAL

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.

General Human Rights

Collected Courses of the Hague Academy

The Collected Courses are a series of monographs on public and private international law published by the Hague Academy of International Law.

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) 

The OHCHR is 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)

Oxford Public International Law is a 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).

Human Rights Cases

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights 

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

HUDOC is a databases of the the official decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) including judgments, decisions and advisory opinions.

Inter-American Court of Human Rights 

Decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights including pending cases, provisional measures, judgments and orders, and compliance monitoring.

International Criminal Court (ICC)

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. 

Human Rights Legislation

Council of Europe Treaty Office 

Full text of Council of Europe treaties, including signatories, ratifications, reservations, communications and entry into force.

Report Citations refer to a report of the case in a published law report.

Abbreviation is the official short form of the law report:

• WLR = Weekly Law Reports.

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.

1. The Law Reports (AC, Ch, Fam, KB/QB)
2. Weekly Law Reports (WLR)
3. All England Law Reports (All ER)
4. Specialist Law Reports

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.

• ECLI: European Case Law Identifier
• Country: EU = European Union
• Court: C = Court of Justice
• Year: 2010 (date of judgment)
• Number: 159 (running case number)