Courts & Case Law

Most Courts and Tribunals now have a website of some description. This is a collection of links to those websites. I have tried to indicate which have online decisions and which do not. Some of the commercial sites require subscription (and payment) to access decisions.

Sites with Case Law

BAILII: The British and Irish Legal Information Institute gives you access to British and Irish case law & legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports, and other law-related British and Irish materials.

Supreme Court: The Court hears appeals for the whole of the United Kingdom in civil cases, and for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in criminal cases. Additionally, it hears cases on devolution matters under the Scotland Act 1998, the Northern Ireland Act 1988 and the Government of Wales Act 2006.

  • Privy Council: The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the court of final appeal for the UK overseas territories and Crown dependencies, and for those Commonwealth countries that have retained the appeal to Her Majesty in Council or, in the case of Republics, to the Judicial Committee.
  • House of Lords Archive: The archive contains all House of Lords judgments delivered from 14 November 1996 to 30 July 2009.
  • Scottish Courts website “provides a single access point for information relating to civil and criminal courts within Scotland, including the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Sheriff Courts, Justice of the Peace Courts, District Courts … Details of recent significant judgements are posted on a daily basis; as are details of cases due to call in the Court of Session and the Sheriff Courts. The information provided on the site includes court rules, contact numbers, advice and location details.”
    Scottish Court Service Website homepage

European Court of Human Rights: is a unique judicial institution that ensures the protection of fundamental rights throughout Europe. It is accessible to any person within its jurisdiction who wishes to complain of a violation of their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights or its Protocols.

European Court of Justice: The Court of Justice of the European Communities is the highest court in the European Union, and seeks to ensure equal application of European law across the European Union member states.

  • Her Majesty’s Court Service: are responsible for managing the magistrates’ courts, the Crown Court, county courts, the High Court and Court of Appeal in England and Wales.
  • Casetrack is a subscription-only service which bills itself as “the essential source for full-text judgments”.
  • Westlaw UK: is another subscription-only service which says that it “provides unparalleled case law, legislation, journal archives, commentary, news and business information”.
  • CaseCheck “is basically a website which delivers its users an up-to-date collection of case summaries ..” The Journal, June 2008

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