• Religion Law UK is a site set up by barrister Neil Addison, of New Bailey Chambers, Liverpool & Preston, designed to provide practical information and relevant web links on the subject of Religion and the Law today. He covers the law relating to criminal and also civil situations where religion is involved and also has sections for case law relevant to religion, with links to the judgments if they are available. There are also reports and articles, a section on international declarations and a very comprehensive set of links to religious bodies under headings of Legal, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Eastern and General. Discrimination Lawyers, Charity Lawyers and Criminal Lawyers need to be aware that in October 2006 new law on Religous Discrimination and Religious Hatred comes into force. The relevant legislation and guidance to these is on the site.
• The Religion and Law Consortium (RLRC) is comprised of academic and government institutions dedicated to the study of law and religion, relationships of state and religion, and freedom of religion or belief.
• MegaLaw.com Religion & Law Pages is a very useful collection of links.

• Regulatory Law aims to bring together legislation, case law and other materials in the fields of regulatory and professional conduct law. It is provided by Brian Harris QC, Andrew Carnes and Garrett Byrne, all of 4/5 Grays Inn Square, who are also authors of the book The Law and Practice of Disciplinary & Regulatory Proceedings", 2nd edition. The site provides access to and commentary upon recent legislation and cases, as well as the growing impact of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is intended to be of assistance to practitioners representing clients before disciplinary tribunals, as well as to those involved in authorization, registration and admission procedures and those responsible for drawing up and administering regulatory and disciplinary procedures.

• Click on Costs is a site dedicted to information on solicitors' costs in contentious matters. The author of the site is solicitor Barbara Swirski who has represented many solicitors and members of the public upon disputed bills both in the County and High Courts. There is information on solicitors' fees and how they are disputed, a description of what is a Remuneration Certificate, how to start the procedure for challenging a bill, and information on all county Courts giving the limit set on fees for each grade of solicitor at the court, where available. The site is designed for solicitors as well as members of the public.

• Litigation Liabilities is a free site set up by Brian Watson of Guildhall Chambers, Bristol, providing a summary of recent cases and practice developments since 1st December 2001 as an up-dating service for his book of the same name. The site covers: (1) the duties of litigators and advocates to clients, to litigation funders and to the court, (2) litigation practice in the post-Woolf era, (3) professional negligence claims arising out of litigation mishandling, and (4) applications for wasted costs orders. The commentaries on the site are free-standing and do not require the viewer to have bought the book.

• LegalBudgets.com is a specialist web site set up to provide information on legal budgets and alternative legal billing arrangements. The web site includes published articles such as Trustees Personnel Liability to Legal Costs to Billing Practices Legal 500, 1998 & 1999 (which includes hourly rates for City of London Solicitors in comparison to provincial solicitors) The web site is aimed at both the legal profession and the commercial client and was Was founded by Jim Diamond (Ex-Allen & Overy and Clifford Turner, now Clifford Chance) and Lisa Preston (Ex-Eversheds).

Re-insurance, Shipping, Marine Law, Freight Forwarding

• Seamanship International Ltd provide free access to all the UK Maritime legislation currently in force - Principal Merchant Shipping Acts, UK Statutory Instruments and UK Statutory Codes of Practice. This is apparently more comprehensive than information provided by the UK government and goes back to 1957. They also produce the marine law database 'CORIFS' which contains the legislation of all the major countries and which the UK government legislation is but a small part (charged service).
• Elbourne Mitchell provides case reports and commentary on re-insurance, shipping and regulatory matters, updated every week and including a "who's suing who" section.
• Morgans are shipping specialists in London and they provide a "Shipping Case Index" with 1,000 selected English Court Decisions which can be searched by keyword or category.
• shippingregs is a commercial service provided via CD and the Internet covering legal information for ship operators (i.e. on board) and the shore infrastructure, including lawyers. The service covers all current Merchant Shipping Acts, Regulations and Codes, amended up to date and kept amended. They are the only organisation to have Maritime & Coastguard Agency approval for the electronic equivalence to M Notices.
• Maritime Legal is a site set up by Jae Sundaram, a lecturer in Maritime Law at the University of Plymouth, designed for students and professionals. There are sections on many of the main seafaring nations and also sections on topics of maritime law.
• Forwarderlaw is an international resource for legal information on freight forwarding and multimodal transport operations. On the site there is online commentary on developments in the law, a database of past articles, recent cases on the law of international transport, information on mediation and dispute resolution and biographies of the national editors. The UK editor is Paul Bugden of London firm Stallard.

Sex and the Law

• Hamiltons has a number of articles relating to HIV, pornography and the law, and operation ore.
• Civil Partnerships, particularly for same-sex couples, is covered by solicitors firm Russell-Cooke. From December 2005, same-sex couples have been able to register their relationships under the Civil Partnership Act. This provides the couple with range of rights and responsibilities akin to marriage.
• QueerPod is a joint project between a number of gay lawyers working in different firms who are lesbian or gay and have specialist expertise in the law as it affects lesbian and gay relationships. They are all trained in collaborative law, the legal process designed to facilitate couples and other family members reaching agreement and resolving issues arising from their relationship or separation without having recourse to the Courts. Individual members come from Burton Woods, Campbell Hooper, Bross Bennett, Josiah-Lake, Hughes Fowler Carruthers, Griffith Smith, Russell-Cooke, Lynch & co., Alternative Family Law, Osbornes, Family Law in Partnership and Bedford Chambers.
• ACAL (Association of Child Abuse Lawyers) provides a "News" page with information on recent cases and also a set of links to related web sites. There is a Newsletter, a training programme and a members' area.
• abuselaw.co.uk is a site provided by Abney Garsden McDonald Solicitors, based in Greater Manchester. The site aims to provide easy access to information for child and adult survivors of physical, sexual and psychological abuse on all aspects of this complex area of law. The site also aims to offer guidance on and understanding of the legal system of England and Wales for professionals working for survivors of abuse. By providing information on the legal rights available to the survivor of abuse in seeking compensation, an explanation of the civil and criminal court procedures and a guide to the Legal Aid system and Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, the site aims to offer a greater understanding of the workings of the Legal system.
• Transsexual People is a section on the Department for Constitutional Affairs site (previously The Lord Chancellor's Department). This covers government policy on this topic and includes a page of Frequently Asked Questions relating to Bellinger -v- Bellinger.
• Irish Redress Board was set up under the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 to make fair and reasonable awards to persons who, as children, were abused while resident in industrial schools, reformatories and other institutions subject to state regulation or inspection. The claims are open to anyone who was abused in an Irish Institution at any time although time runs out in December 2005. The Web site provides a general outline of the way in which the Board deals with applications for redress.
• Irish Survivors is a site created by Cheadle Hulme firm Abney Garsden McDonald for the victims of child abuse who wish to submit claims to the Irish Redress Board (as above). The site is intended to be a source of information for all survivors, support groups, legal representatives and other persons connected with the Redress Board, particularly for victims of abuse now living in the UK.

• The Social Security and Child Support Commissioners, the specialised part of the Judiciary appointed to determine appeals on law under the Social Security and Child Support Acts. The results of many cases and appeals are given on this site.
• Care Standards Tribunal relates to the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults under various Childrens Acts and related legislation. There are decisions on the site.
• Ferret Information Systems give a useful set of links for benefits, housing and social work material and for news on these topics. A list of conferences in this field is also maintained.
• The Department for Work and Pensions is a reference source of information in this area. (previously DSS)
• The Child Support Agency is an executive agency of the Department of Social Security and is responsible for running the child support system. Their aim is to assess, collect and pay child support maintenance, ensuring that parents who live apart meet their financial responsibilities to their children.
• CareandHealth covers topics related to social care, including an extensive section on acts (with direct links to the acts), bills, consultations, government guidelines and policies. There is also a news and features section and a very extensive and well described list of links by category, e.g. Addictions, Ageing & Older People, Bereavement, Care etc. There is also extensive information about benefits.
• The National Association of Citizen's Advice Bureaux provide some of their own reports and press releases - it is not yet serving as a gateway to other resources. However, you can "register" to receive new material by email (you have to register in any case, to view the material, but it is free).
• Barrister Pearl Willis provides recent cases and commentary on Family and Child Care cases.
• The British Social Security System is the subject of the rather unusually presented pages of Martin Rathfelder. He calls the site "weasel words" which gives the general flavour. The Regulations on Incapacity Benefit and the Law relating to Disability Living Allowances is covered, and there are also useful links to other web sites in this general area.
• Nik Nicol, of 1 Pump Court, offers information on Housing and Fuel Rights.
• Neil Bateman has set up a "welfare rights resource centre" which is an extensive set of links to resources involving benefits, welfare rights and advice on these topics. Neil himself provides training and publications on these topics.

Sports Law

• Couchman Harrington Associates is a specialist international sports business law firm. They provide news items and articles on the site.
• sportsbusinesslaw.com is a site from Field Fisher Waterhouse "dedicated to providing legal and commercial information to the sports sector". There is sports news and hot topics on the site.
• 5RB (5 Raymond Buildings) is a leading set of barristers specialising in all areas of media and entertainment law, defamation and freedom of expression. There are over 300 case reports on the site including cases in Sports Law. The case reports include very recent ones and in many cases, copies of the judgments are appended. You can also register on the site for email briefings with monthly round-ups of key issues and new cases covered on the site.
• Hammonds (which includes previous sports lawyers Townleys) provides some articles and news items on this topic.

Tax Law including Tax Fraud

• The Chartered Institute of Taxation provides tax information and provides a legislation tracking service.
• James Kessler - of 24 Old Buildings, provides the initial chapters of his books on Drafting Trusts and Will Trusts, Tax Planning and Fundraising for Charities, and Tax Planning for the Foreign Domiciliary.
• Tax Planet is a global network of legal and accounting professionals focusing on tax (domestic and international). International tax work without a global team of professionals is virtually impossible, even for SMEs and individuals. Tax Planet strives to achieve a global presence in numerous countries with the size of the team in proportion to a country's size, complexity and international impact. The site has a research section containing mainly tax and tax-related links and information on countries, international organisations and global issues. There are many deep-links to selected pages with useful contents to facilitate research work.
• Jonathan S. Schwarz, of 3 Temple Gardens, specialises in international taxation and his web site contains several substantial papers on transfer pricing, including one which relates to e-commerce.
• Share Data provides services in historic data on shares and investments and other services related to probate.
• Gray's Inn Chambers offers a tax case reporting service with online digests of all recent tax cases in which members of chambers have appeared, with full transcripts in some cases. There are also comprehensive links to other tax cases.
• Lamb & Co. Tax Investigaton Specialists provide information on serious fraud cases with initial advice on procedures to be taken related to "COP8" and "COP9" letters and links to tax sites generally.
• Finance and Tax Tribunals include the Vat and Duties Tribunals, Special Commissioners and Financial Services & Markets Tribunal. The site has been designed to meet the needs of those wishing to appeal against decisions of HM Customs & Excise and the Inland Revenue or to refer matters relating to certain decisions of the Financial Services Authority. The Tribunals are part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs. There are decisions on the site which can be searched by categories of VAT, Customs Duties, Excise Duties, Insurance Premium Tax, Landfill Tax and Special Commissioners.

Trading Standards

• Trading Standards Central is a new site designed as a "a one stop shop" for consumer protection information in the UK and supported and maintained by the Institute of Trading Standards Administration. It includes a summary of relevant legislation for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

• Trading Standards Net gives a description of the legislation enforced by trading standards and consumer protection, with links to Acts where appropriate. Also, links to all UK Trading Standards Authorities and information on Product Recalls.

• Vital Product Solutions is a consultancy providing advice to businesses to ensure their products comply with all areas of trading legislation. There is a range of basic free advice on the site.

Transport and Travel Law

• The Transport Tribunal has three jurisdictions. It was originally set up to hear appeals against decisions of Traffic Commissioners in connection with the Heavy Goods Vehicles & Public Service Vehicles Operators Licensing Systems. It also hears appeals against decisions of The Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors. In addition, it is able to resolve disputes under the Postal Services Act 2000. Members of the Transport Tribunal also act as the London Service Permit Appeals Panel. The site has decisions since 2000.

• Travel Law Centre at the University of Northumbria, provides information on current regulations and relevant case reports, links to bodies associated with the travel industry and summaries of articles in "International Travel Law Journal".

• Field Fisher Waterhouse - London, provide a specialised site www.ffwtravellaw.com which includes reports and guides for the travel industry.

Trusts, Wills, Probate

• Probates Section of the Law Society provides support to solicitors and other lawyers in England and Wales whose work involves probate, inheritance tax, elderly client advice, wills, trusts, enduring power of attorneys and related property law. The site includes news and events as well as providing information for members of the group.

• Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS) is a group for lawyers specialising in contentious trust and probate work. The aims are to provide a forum for specialists to exchange experience, know-how and an appreciation of the law and statutes in this specialist area; to hold seminars, conferences and meetings for the discussion of contentious trust and probate issues; to promote the enhancement of the specific skills specialisation and expertise in this area by the provision of education and training and, where possible, to enable representations to be made to the appropriate governmental and judicial bodies in relation to contentious trust and probate issues. Currently online are the ACTAPS newsletter, the code of conduct, membership directory, and press releases. There is also a copy of the Draft Merged Pre-Action Protocol for the Resolution of Trust and Probate Disputes and the Law Society Risk Assessment document.

• Institute of Legacy Management (ILM) promotes professional standards in legacy administration and provides consultancy, training and support services to its members. Currently, Members represent over 250 UK charities, receiving half of the 1+ billion bequeathed to voluntary organisations every year. There are several fact sheets on the site, covering topics such as Capital Gains Tax, Ex-Gratia Payments and the Royal Sign Manual Direction and there is a database of former charity names and addresses in the UK, useful for lawyers finding themselves with a long-standing will where either (or both) the name or address of the charitable organisation may be out of date. Together with the Law Society, they have recently published a booklet called 'Charities as Beneficiaries'.

• Peter Moore & Company provide Underwriting Services to professionals and particularly a mortality assessment and calculations service. There is also an actuarial report on the suitability of life assurance quotes in valuing individual interests within a trust (a free PDF download from the site).

• Trusts Discussion Group set up by barrister James Kessler.

  Sites relating to wills, registers, probate, missing heirs and intestacy
  

• National Register of Wills is a new UK database of wills and missing wills that can be searched by subscribing solicitors and professional will writers (not available to the general public). Membership costs £100 plus VAT for a year and this enables a firm to register as many client's wills as they wish; also to attach scanned copies of wills, to search the nationwide database for missing wills, to amend or delete entries (e.g. for changes of address) and to enter details of missing wills which can then be viewed by all subscribing practices. Subscribing practices are able to charge the client for searches if they wish. The Register is run by John and Nicola Bowerbank, qualified independent financial advisers with many contacts and relationships with solicitors (but no conflicts of interest). The £100 cost will be discounted for the first year for applications received by 31 August 2006.

• thewillplace.com is a national will registration service. It allows members of the public to register the whereabouts of their wills and enables people dealing with probate to search for missing wills. Members of the public can search on a name to see if there is a will and, if there is, the person will be referred to a probate solicitor in their area. Professionals can register with the site and can then, on production of a death certificate, search the database and retrieve the deceased's will details.

• The Bona Vacantia Division of the Treasury Solicitor's Department deals with the assets of dissolved companies and the estates of people who die intestate and without known kin. (Bona Vacantia means Vacant Goods). The site has a facility for relatives of people who die intestate to search the records and there is also an auction on the site of domain names previously owned by dissolved companies. There are also guidelines on policy and "how it all works".
• Fraser & Fraser is a firm of genealogists which specialises in probate research to locate missing heirs and beneficiaries. The site has a good description of what probate research involves. They can also help find wills, obtain copies of certificates, help to administer an estate, calculate how an estate, intestacy or trust should be distributed. They can work either for firms of solicitors or for individuals who think there could be a bequest waiting for them.
• Share Data provides information about shares and share holdings with clients including many of the top 100 law firms in the UK. The service covers all jurisdictions and all shares, whether quoted or unquoted. They can also offer the services of an experienced professional genealogist for the tracing of missing beneficiaries at a fraction of the cost of using one of the larger firms.

Miscellaneous

• Legal Ethics pages involving computers and the law.

Comments or queries? delia@venables.co.uk