Legal Sites and Resources in the UK, C

This page covers online resources related to charities, civil justice, civil procedure, computer evidence, forensics, internet, data protection, construction, crime, police, prisons and magistrates.

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Select the topic you want from the list below or return to Sites index .... this page was last updated on January 12th.
Charities Civil Justice and Civil Procedure Computer and Internet Law including Computer Evidence and Computer Forensics
Construction and Building Law Costs - case law and comments Crime, Police, Prisons, Magistrates

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Charities

  • The Charity Commission is the Regulator for Charities in England & Wales. The site provides information on the system of regulation as well as a register of charities. You can search for charities by name, geographic area or by registered number (but not by the topic covered by the charity).
  • Russell-Cooke - London, provide articles on charity law. (Take the "Services for Charities and Organisations" link and then "Charities Team" and then "Articles").
  • Charity Choice (Encyclopaedia of Charities) provides a directory online and allows you to search by the topic, e.g. Aged, Animals, Armed servies, Blind etc. there is information on bequests in wills and various publications.

Civil Justice

  • The Justice website has now taken over most of the previously significant sites related to legal matters. You can find a list of "Organisations" (effectively the previous web sites, now replaced) at www.justice.gov.uk/about/index.htm.
    A few handy pointers:
  • The Civil Procedure Rules can be found at www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/courts/procedure-rules/civil/index.htm
  • Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service, is now at www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmcts/index.htm.
  • HMCS forms and leaflets can be found at hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/FormFinder.do.

  • The Civil Justice (CJC) is an independent public body, funded by the Ministry of Justice. Since 1 October 2010 it has been sponsored by the Judicial Office; the body of civil servants set up to support the Judiciary following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. This is why the CJC website now appears on the Advisory Bodies section of the Judicial Office website.
  • The Civil Court Users Association exists to represent the interests of organisations that use the Civil Courts in England and Wales. The Association serves its members by lobbying the Department for Consitutional Affairs and the Court Service on litigation matters relevant to the credit industry and is focussed on improving the service provided by the Courts for Court Users. Between them, the members of the Association are responsible for the issue of more than 80% of all civil proceedings for the recovery of debts. Regular regional meetings allow the members to raise and discuss issues which are fed back to the National Council which in turn holds regular liaison meetings with the Court Service.
  • Garden Court Chambers have created a bank of specialist legal resources relevant to their practice areas including Civil Legal Resources (take "Resources" and then "Legal Resources"). Within each of these legal areas, they have then set up around a dozen sub topics where they have located cases, relevant legislation and useful links. The areas they cover under Civil Legal Resources are Civil Claims Against the Police and Public Authorities, Community Care, Employment, Discrimination, Gypsy and Traveller Rights, Inquests and Coroners, Mental Health, Planning, Prison Law and Welfare Benefits.
  • Civil Court Service, from Jordans, offers online access (a subscription service) to the full text of the Brown Book, including the Civil Procedure Rules, with expert annotation, Practice Directions, Pre-Action Protocols, Court Guides, Fees Orders, Courts Directory, Court Forms and the Civil Court Service Newsletter. All Rules have a full amendment history and there are updates every two weeks. There is also a case archive back to 1999 and continuously updated consolidated legislation.

Computer and Internet Law and Regulation including Computer Evidence and Computer Forensics

  • The government's international ICT (Information and Communication Technology) website has useful material.
  • Spam Laws is a site set up by US Law Professor David E. Sorkin. The site groups laws by USA (Federal and State), Europe (EU and by country) and other Countries, and provides links to legislation or proposed legislation in these countries. There is also a good list of links to spam-related sites.
  • The Society for Computers and Law is the UK's leading community for IT lawyers, with over 1,500 members, drawn from private practice and industry.
  • British Computer Society is the leading professional body for those working in IT. They have over 68,000 members in more than 100 countries.
  • Internet Law & Policy Forum is dedicated to the sustainable global development of the Internet through legal and public policy initiatives. It is an international nonprofit organization whose member companies develop and deploy the Internet in every aspect of business today.
  • out-law.com is an extensive information site provided by Pinsent Masons. There are 10,000 pages of free legal news and guidance, mostly on IT and e-commerce issues with many new items posted every day. There are also a large number of quite detailed "Guides" on new media and e-commerce topics. About Cookies is another site set up by Pinsent Masons as a guide to deleting and controlling cookies and (for web site owners) assistance in staying the right side of the law.
  • Kingsley Napley - London, provide information on current topics of business, e-commerce, employment and commercial law generally. They also offer a separate site called WebLAW.co.uk which focusses on the topic of e-commerce and legal aspects of web site development and maintenance. There is information on domain name disputes and SAAS and virtualisation agreements. They offer template and bespoke solutions.
  • Michael J L Turner is forensic computer examiner and an established expert witness on computer evidence. The site provides an extensive list of cases relating to the Computer Misuse Act 1990. He gives a brief summary of each case and a link to a free source of information, if available.
  • Internet Library of Law and Court Decisions,is authored by Martin H Sampson of US lawfirm Davidoff Malito & Hutcher. The site is one of the web's foremost case digests, providing in-depth analysis of over 600 US court decisions affecting those who do business on the Internet. Court decisions are organized by subject matter. The user is provided with a brief synopsis of the court's decision. If the decision is of interest, a link takes the user to a more thorough analysis. As part of a current update of the site, pdfs of all court decisions analyzed will be provided as well. An electronic newsletter, Internet Law Update, is available to provide users with the latest cases added to the Library. A full text search engine is also available to assist in utilizing the Library's resources. The Internet Library has analyzed cases covering a broad array of topics, including trademark and copyright infringement, dilution, use of meta tags, links, thumbnails and framing, browse wrap, click wrap and shrink wrap agreements, domain name disputes, internet service provider liability, subpoenas, online defamation, gripe sites, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, jurisdiction, the legality of gambling on the Internet, search engine advertising, licensing requirements for the operation of an online pharmacy and automobile distributorship, the legality of keying and cookies, use of e-mail in the work place, spam, the legality of pop-up ads and spyware, and First Amendment issues arising out of governmental regulation of the Internet, among others.
  • Stephen Mason is a barrister, an accredited mediator and an IT expert, with a particular expertise in electronic signatures. He reports, on his site, on the legal issues involved with the first PIN ATM case to go to trial (he is representing one of the parties). There is extensive information on electronic signatures on his site, including books, reports, legislation and cases - a valuable and unique resource. He has written one of the key books on this subject himself - Electronic Signatures in Law (Tottel, 2nd edition, 2007). He has also written Electronic Evidence: Disclosure, Discovery & Admissibility setting out the practical concepts of electronic evidence, how it is created, stored and structured and including computer forensics.
  • Black Knight Associates (BKA) was formed in 2008 by data, accountancy and legal professionals increasingly concerned by the cost of accurate and consistent forensic audit reports required by commercial and consumer clients in their pursuit of financial mis-selling cases. They provide an online service that allows easy and comprehensive investigation of loan and mortgage irregularities. As well as the paid-for products, there is a free calculator on the site (called Pinky Pig) which calculates how much a loan or mortgage will actually cost based on loan amount, APR, number of payments per year and payment period.
  • Jonathan Turner is a barrister who provides case reports and articles on IP, competition and IT law. He has acted in a number of interesting internet cases, including French Connection v Sutton (fcuk.com) and Antiquesportfolio.com v Fitch (copyright in photographs on the net, duties of website designers), as well as other significant IP cases such Designers Guild v Russell Williams, PLG v Ardon, Reckitt & Colman v Borden (Jif lemon) and C&H v Klucznik.
  • Disklabs Computer Forensics provide computer investigations by leading experts. Disklabs Computer Forensics also provide the same computer forensics services on seemingly 'dead' hard disk drives and other data storage devices.

Construction and Building Law

  • Society of Construction Law
  • Construction Industry Computing Association, (CICA) including a set of links for construction sites in the UK and abroad.
  • Construction Law Database is a subscription service which features Adjudication under the Construction Act 1996. Developed by lawyer Tim Gulliver, there are some 150 case summaries, including all leading as well as recent cases, plus law summaries. New cases will be added as they appear. Cases can be searched by a unique menu system as well as by date, title, judge, party, barrister or solicitor. The database is intended to be of use to lawyers and other professionals involved with construction, as well as commercial organisations involved in the field.
  • Atkinson Law provides information in construction related to arbitration with case law and articles.
  • Abacus Construction Index is a directory of 2,000 recommended websites and online documents for construction professionals. In particular, there is a facility to browse and search a large body of UK construction legislation, including the Building Regulations, and their Appeals & Determinations.
  • Here are some more firms of solicitors and barristers who provide information on construction law and links to other construction-related resources:
  • Alan E Wilson is a Civil Engineer with training in the law and dispute resolution. He conducts adjudications and arbitrations and also acts as an independent consultant to clients of all sizes, ranging across the building, civil engineering, process and M & E industries. The site contains legislation relating to The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996; The Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998; The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. There is also background information on ADR, Adjudication and Arbitration as well as a set of related links.
  • Thelen Reid & Priest provides a Portal for the Construction Industry - mainly covering the USA but with international information and links as well.
  • The Law of Damages (contract and tort/delict) is a book by Stewart Dunn of which an extract "Liability for Consequential Acts and Events" is available on this site as well as some articles.

Costs - including case law and comments

  • 39 Essex Street provides a useful database "Costs Cases Online" consisting of those cases determined after 1st January 2005 which they believe have value as precedents. There are nearly 300 cases described, each with a very brief summary and a fuller one. You can search in various ways and also (using JustCite) link to a full transcript (some free and some only available on subscription).
  • Legal Costs Blog comes from Gibbs Wyatt Stone, Defendant Costs Specialists. The blog covers the expertise expected from specialist costs counsel and the range of services provided by traditional costs draftsmen. Although the blog has only just been launched, it includes archive material from the last 2 years, previously covered on the Costs Law site. There is also a Costs Law update to which you can subscribe on the site.
  • Costs Monkey is a site offering free resources for both practising costs draftsmen and solicitors. The site provides news, links and a forum for legal practitioners to share views on costs. There is also a section with the hourly rate guidelines which is updated as soon as new case law or rules are published. There is a section of useful links relating to this area of work and even a section on international associations and information sites on costs drafting. The site is maintained by law costs draftsman Julian Caddick who himself runs a legal costs team of around 23 people.
  • Jennings Legal Services is one of the country's leading (and largest) firms of law costs consultants, covering the whole of England and Wales, with a presence in most major UK cities. They specialize in criminal & family law cases & have a large group of law cost consultants and draftsmen.
  • Blackstones Legal (previously Just Law Costs) is a service for solicitors provided by solicitors. The specialised and cost effective service gives great attention to detail and only uses suitably qualified staff with the technical knowledge and skill required. The site provides case law reports of appropriate financial and cost-related cases.

Crime, Police, Prisons, Magistrates

See below the subsections for crime, police, prisons, magistrates.

Crime

  • Ciminal Justice System Online is a portal for the Criminal Justice System, designed for both members of the public and professionals involved with the system. The sections for the general public include sections related to being a witness, a defendant or a juror. There are sections for victim support, crime prevention and even a virtual tour of 14 courts (although I personally could not get this to work). The sections for professionals include information about the LCD, the Attorney General and the Home Office, with subsections for the Police, Prisons, Probation, Youth Justice Board and Criminal Records Bureau. The site either provides information directly, or else links to the relevant external site for further information. There are also news items and publications available. It looks like a very useful starting point for many queries.
  • Crime, Justice and the Law in Northern Ireland
  • The Home Office maintains news and information resources on criminal law and has a particularly good set of links to other sites in the criminal justice area.
  • The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is a new law enforcement agency created to reduce the harm caused to people and communities in the UK by serious organised crime. In April 2006, it took over the functions of the National Crime Squad (NCS), the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), the role of HMRC in investigating drug trafficking and related criminal finance and some of the functions of the UK Immigration Service (UKIS) in dealing with organised immigration crime. SOCA is commencing Sector Specific Seminars for Money Laundering Reporting Officers and details of these will appear on the site.
  • Criminal Law Solicitors Association represents criminal practitioners throughout England and Wales. Membership of the Association is open to any solicitor - prosecution or defence - and to court clerks, qualified or trainee - involved with, or interested in, the practice of criminal law. It is possible to search for a CLSA member solicitor by area (postcode), by name (of the solicitor or of the firm) or by the court. There is a news section and a good set of links in the general criminal area. There is also a members-only area with additional material.
  • The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is a Non-Departmental Public Body which administers the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Since its introduction in 1964, it has provided some tangible acknowledgement of societys sympathy for innocent victims of violent crime or those injured trying to apprehend criminals or prevent a crime. They receive over 76,000 applications for compensation each year and spend in excess of 200,000,000 per year in compensation payments. The site describes the scheme, provides the forms in pdf format and gives advice on how to apply for compensation.
  • Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel (CICAP) has the role of determining appeals against decisions made by the The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) (as above) solely arising from claims for compensation for criminal injuries made on and after 1 April 1996 under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. You can search for decisions under Eligibility, Compensation and Procedure and then refine the search with keywords and date (decisions are in pdf format). You can also find information about hearings in any particular area and download the form.
  • Legal Services Commission is an executive non-departmental public body created under the Access to Justice Act 1999 to replace the Legal Aid Board. It is responsible for the development and administration of the Community Legal Service and the Criminal Defence Service.
  • Criminal Courts Review, provides the full text of the AULD review (from September 2001) in both online form and pdf, as well as a summary of the report, the Government's press notice, an invitation for "stakeholders" to comment, and an online version of the actual comments received.
  • The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College, London, brings together criminal justice practitioners, sentences, policy makers and academics. As well as advertising courses and publications, there is an excellent set of links to web resources.
  • Consumer Crime Cases (CCC) is a database of several hundred digests of appeal cases relating to Trading Standards prosecutions. The site covers specialist points of law peculiar to consumer and other regulatory law and, in addition, with precedents on legal issues such as abuse of process or duplicity which derive from the more general field of criminal law. The case reports come from Victor Smith a former head of the legal service at Northamptonshire County Council. There is a (modest) charge to access the reports, either for an individual or for a corporate account.
  • London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association was founded in 1948 for Solicitors who practise in and around the Greater London area. Included are Crown Prosecutors and self employed advocates. There are consultation papers on the site and links to legal bodies in the general crime area.
  • Criminology and Jurisprudence at the Centre for Law and Society at the University of Edinburgh
  • CrimeLine is a major free legal resources on the web for criminal lawyers. The free weekly publication CrimeLine Updater is written by Andrew Keogh and received by over 17,000 professionals each week. You can register for this on the site. Each issue digests the latest cases from 30 sources, legislation and news. Important judgments are often emailed within minutes of being handed down. Cases are linked to Casetrack or Bailii for full text judgments. Crimeline has now created an APP - see description here - to make searching Bailii easier on mobile devices (Apple at the moment, others on the way). It also allows bookmarking of cases/documents and emailing. The full description says "CrimeLine Law puts the free Bailii databases in your pocket and gives you access to thousands of cases and statutes. Wherever you have a mobile phone signal, you now have Bailii in your pocket for speedy access. The APP allows you to bookmark cases or legislation for future quick reference and you can email cases to others. A donation from sale proceeds of this APP will be made to Bailii (in 2011 CrimeLine gave £2,500 to Bailii)." You can go straight to the APP on iTunes here.
  • Garden Court Chambers have created a bank of specialist legal resources relevant to their practice areas including Crime (take "Resources" and then "Legal Resources"). Within each of these legal areas, they have then set up around a dozen sub topics where they have located cases, relevant legislation and useful links. The areas they cover under Crime are Anti-Social Behaviour, Drugs Offences, Extradition, Firearms Offences, Fraud, Human Rights, Miscarriages of Justice, Proceeds of Crime, Public Order Offences, Sentencing, Serious Violent Crime, Sexual Offences and Terrorism.
  • The Criminal Cases Review Commission provides recent press releases and information on the work of the Commission.
  • Criminal Solicitor Dot Net provides criminal practitioners with news (frequently updated) and resources on criminal law and criminal contracting. The site is principally run by Gavin Burrell of BTMK Solicitors in Essex. The site offers access to forums to discuss criminal law and contracting issues and provides a case law updater and legislation updater to keep members aware of impending or recent changes in criminal law. You have to register to be a "member" but it is free. There is also a weekly email newsletter on which free CPD (1 hour a month) can be earned. The site also incorporates several blogs and newsfeeds - Diary of a Criminal Solicitor, The Law West of Ealing Broadway, and The Policeman’s Blog (all reached via the site as above). These blogs contain the news items available on the site but are "filtered" according to these categories.
  • Criminal Law Week now published by Thomson Reuters, is a weekly digest of all new developments in the criminal law, covering both case law and statute law, primary and subordinate. Commentary is provided by James Richardson, in practice for over 20 years at the criminal bar, and editor of Archbold for many years. There is a database of approximately 3,000 cases. There is now a new service providing up-to-date and annotated text of relevant criminal legislation. Currently comprising four statutes (more to come), each statutory provision is displayed with the most recent amendments, repeals and modifications, together with a complete set of annotations, including commencement provisions, links to relevant case digests and subordinate legislation.
  • Serious Fraud Office is an independent government department that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud. The key criterion used by the Office deciding whether to accept a case is that the suspected fraud appears to be so serious or complex that its investigation should be carried out by those responsible for its prosecution. The site covers the organisation structure, how cases are dealt with, publications and speeches and international cooperation. There is also news of cases completed and, on occasion, cases in progress.
  • Courtel Communications Ltd provides a number of services under the CourtServe name which provide court list distribution services. For example, CourtServe 2000 tracks all cases, alerting the user instantly when these are listed. It works from its own user-loaded case database, or by interfacing with case diary software. CourtServe 100 provides similar simpler listing solutions for smaller firms and individual practitioners. Most of these services are subscription based, but there is one part of the service which is free - the Crown & Combined High Court Daily Courtroom Lists. Practitioners can check out the court they are in, where they are in the list, and the name of the judge, all without charge.
  • Fraud X is the Association of Liverpool Fraud Experts, set up by four Liverpool firms of Solicitors - Quinn Melville, Canter Levin & Berg, Mark Jones & Partners and the Pearson Fielding Partnership. These firms are founder members of the Legal Services Commission Serious Fraud Panel. As a result of a new ruling which came into force on 2nd April 2001, only firms on The Legal Services Commission Serious Fraud Panel are permitted to conduct legally aided defence work in serious and complex fraud. Fraud X intends to provide a nationwide service for those accused of serious fraud, representing individuals and/or assisting other firms who are not on the panel.
  • Harassment Law, although intended for the lay person, also includes legal sources and references on racial or sexual harassment, stalking, bullying at work and bad neighbours.
  • UK Criminal Justice Weblog is supported by Rethinking Crime and Punishment and produced in association with the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. It covers the latest news about criminal justice issues from around the UK, drawn from media websites, government sources and criminal justice organisations.

    Now complete!

  • The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1913 is "A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court." It is now complete.

    "The Proceedings" is the name of the original published version. Here is what it says about these: "The Proceedings contain accounts of trials which took place at the Old Bailey. The first published collection of trials at the Old Bailey dates from 1674, and from 1678 accounts of the trials at each sessions (meeting of the Court) were regularly published. Inexpensive, and targeted initially at a popular audience, the Proceedings were produced shortly after the conclusion of each sessions and were initially a commercial success. But with the growth of newspapers and increasing publication costs the audience narrowed by the nineteenth century to a combination of lawyers and public officials. With few exceptions, this periodical was regularly published each time the sessions met (eight times a year until 1834, and then ten to twelve times a year) for 239 years, when publication came to a sudden halt in April 1913."

    The site is beautifully prepared, with the full text available as well as digital images of the original reports. There are also some pictures from legal material of the time together with an extensive Introduction. There is a particular section for schools, with the site obviously seen as material for school projects. The project is a collaboration between the Open University and the Universities of Hertfordshire and Sheffield and is funded by various grants so that access can be free. There is to be a conference in July on the project called "The Metropolis on Trial", to be held at the Open University, Milton Keynes.

Police

  • Police.UK gives information about crime and policing in each local area. There are also links to individual police force websites.
  • Bhatt Murphy is a firm specialising in human rights issues and who handle complex and serious cases against state agencies including the police, prison and immigration authorities. The site offers a series of "timelines" - these are histories of particular legal areas relating to police misconduct and prisoners rights, indicating the legislation, political initiatives, campaigns and case law of each area. There are timelines for Police Misconduct, Tariff Setting For Life Sentenced Prisoners, Deaths in Custody, Immigration Detention, Parole Hearings and the Prison Disciplinary System. There is also a very useful set of links to other bodies involved in these issues. Partner Fiona Murphy says "We hope that the site will be useful for clients, campaign groups, students and other lawyers working in this area."
  • www.PoliceStationReps.com has a secondary title of "Find a Police Station Representative NOW". The site aims to put solicitors in touch with police station reps around the UK. Accredited Police Station Representatives can register on the site for free and their name will subsequently come up for appropriate searches. All the names listed have been checked against the LSC's register of accredited police station representatives.
  • Bishop & Light provide case summaries on Crime, Mental Health and Actions Against the Police. These include link to the TLR where relevant and also to Smith Bernal (although you can only get the full transcript from SB if you have paid for Casetrack).

Prisons

  • HM Prison Service provides an extensive list of organisations associated with prisons and their families (although not with links to web sites), some "good news" press releases, and the full text (in pdf format) of "Prisons Service Orders". There is a list of all prisons with information on opening hours and how to get there, a section "about prison life" and prison statistics.
  • Scottish Prison Service provides information on Scottish prisons particularly aimed at the families of prisoners.
  • The Prisons Handbook site is created by Mark Leech. The site provides sample chapters from the book and also news and comment on the penal system.
  • The Howard League, an independent charity working for humane and effective reform of the criminal justice and penal system in England and Wales and with consultative status with the United Nations. There is news and campaiging information and links to other organisations in the same area.
  • Bhatt Murphy is a firm specialising in human rights issues and who handle complex and serious cases against state agencies including the police, prison and immigration authorities. The site offers a series of "timelines" - these are histories of particular legal areas relating to police misconduct and prisoners rights, indicating the legislation, political initiatives, campaigns and case law of each area. There are timelines for Police Misconduct, Tariff Setting For Life Sentenced Prisoners, Deaths in Custody, Immigration Detention, Parole Hearings and the Prison Disciplinary System. There is also a very useful set of links to other bodies involved in these issues.

Magistrates

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