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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.

Introductory Material

Internet information skills for lawyers (an online tutorial) is provided by Social Sciences section of Intute, funded by JISC. The tutorial is free and takes you round the key legal resources available for lawyers. Your expert guide is Sue Pettit, Subject Librarian for Law, University of Bristol.

Help With Law Exams is a free resource for students and teachers of law. It is maintained by Clive Dunkley, a law teacher at King Edward VI Sixth Form College in Nuneaton and an examiner for OCR for the AS Law papers. There is legal news extracted from current newspapers and other sources, expressed in a straightforward manner, descriptions of the Court Structure, how to become a solicitor or a barrister, information on police powers, magistrates, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Civil Law, Criminal Law and many other topics, all refreshingly free of jargon.

A Level Law Notes prepared by staff at St Brendan's Sixth Form College in Bristol provide an excellent source of basic material on the UK legal system.

a-level-law.com prepared by law lecturer Asif Tufal contains free lecture notes, case notes and resources for AS and A Level Law and ILEx Part II courses. Subjects covered are: Contract Law, Criminal Law, English Legal System and Tort Law. It also includes sources of free legal advice and useful links.

Learn Law is a provider of online learning tools for law courses in England and Wales. They offer an online multi-choice assessment tool for GCSE Law students consisting of interactive revision tests enabling students to revise and apply their knowledge to over 15 areas of Law. Class reports provide teachers with instant feedback on how a group of students have performed on the revision tests. From September 2005 they are also offering the multi-choice assessment tool for students studying AS Law for the AQA and OCR examination boards. There will also soon be complete distance learning courses in GCSE, AS, A2 and the National Association of Paralegals.

A Guide to the UK Legal System by Sarah Carter, Law Librarian at the University of Kent at Canterbury, and Guide to Irish Law by Dr. Darius Whelan, lecturer in law at the Institute of Technology, Tallaght, Dublin, are two comprehensive and innovative papers published on the USA LLRX Librarian's site. The papers describe the respective legal systems as if to a lawyer or student of law from another country, making full use of legal sources and resources on the web.

Lawbore is City University's legal portal. Students (and others) can use this site to find materials relevant to their interests including websites, journal articles, cases, legislation and key documentation. There are links to useful tools including legal dictionaries, abbreviation guides, directories, research guides and articles written by City's own law students and staff. Each of the 30 topics (Banking, Commercial, Company, Constitutional, Contract etc) starts with a summary of what the law in that topic is all about, and then provides 5 top sites and 5 top articles. There are also legal headlines provided by moreover.com and a "chat" forum.

Minitrial is an initiative from Scottish Lawyers to help secondary schools find out more about the Scottish legal system. Students take part in a reconstruction of a ciminal jury trial. The site shows an interactive court scene and describes the participants, then shows some of the "papers" for the assault trial. There are various materials for further work which can be downloaded. The site does not try to be too clever but is straightforward and informative.

The Scottish Council of Law Reporting (SCLR) makes available on its site a collection of digital resources concerning the celebrated case of Donoghue v Stevenson - the case of the snail in the ginger beer bottle, from 1932. Now there is a new section of the site “The Paisley Snail MiniTrial” with featured articles and images of the original court documents which can be used by students in schools and colleges to run their own civil jury trials and to return their own verdict in the case based on current Scottish procedure. The format is based on the successful “criminal” trials from Minitrial, which is an educational initiative by Scottish lawyers, as above. Teachers can download starter packs of materials for use in class.

Resources Presented Alphabetically

Campus Legal provide an online magazine called Lex, published by New City Media, part of the QD Group. There is legal news and information on summer placements and also working abroad.

Consilio is an online magazine for law students published by Mike Semple Piggott and Norman Baird. It provides lots of free material including articles, law reports, net radio and television interviews and selected SPR course materials. The site also features a members area (which is also free, but requires registration) offering additional course materials, a weekly newswire and targeted special offers. There is a series of CD ROMs and student revision notes called Law in a Box, see below.

Criminal Law Online provides presentations and recorded lectures in criminal law for LLB and GDL students. These presentations, viewed online, are not free but they are low cost and good value. Topics available so far include Defences, Homicide and Non Fatal Offences. The lectures, presentations and articles are produced by Norman Baird who is also co-editor of Consilio, as above.

elawstudent.com is a small company developing law courses and in particular, so far, an 'A' Level Law software programme (GCSE law and the core subjects for the first year of the LLB degree will follow later in the year). In the meantime, barrister Richard Priestley is making his database of significant edited transcripts of case judgments available to anyone interested. The user should click on the Quick Search button on the home page and then search by keyword (e.g. negligence) or by name or part of name. I asked how the cases were chosen. Richard said "I choose the cases in accordance with the syllabi of AQA and OCR, who are the only two examining boards offering AS/A LEVEL LAW. Unfortunately, the areas covered are huge: crime, contract, tort, consumer protection, human rights and els. Frankly, in terms of depth, I would equate the course with a first-year LL.B."

e-lexia.net is a new site set up by Semple Piggot Rochez, the pioneers of internet learning in the law. The new site provides "e-books" and "e-articles" - i.e. material which can be downloaded in pdf format. It is aimed at undergraduate and post-graduate law students. Course lecturers can obtain the material for assessment purposes, without charge. It is also possible to be an associated author and provide e-lexia with material, keeping 40% of the proceeds of items sold.

Intute: Law, Key law resources provided by Intute funded by JISC, and brought to you by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and University of Bristol. The site provides guidance and access to global legal information resources on the Internet. The service aims to identify and evaluate legal resource sites offering primary and secondary materials and other items of legal interest. Descriptive records and links are created for legal service sites and specific documents.

JUSTICE is the well known and respected human rights and law reform charity and now there is also a JUSTICE student human rights network. Launched a year ago, the group is aimed at creating a lively, interactive network for all those studying the law who are interested in human rights. There is a mailing list, electronic bulletins, successful seminars at the Guardian Newsroom and other events being planned. The latest bulletin, is here. One particular feature of the site is a very comprehensive list of links to resources and organisations involved with human rights and covering Asylum, Criminal Justice, Equality, EU Justice and Home Affairs, Human Rights, International Human Rights, Legal Systems and Privacy.

Law Competitions is a site for law students to put them in touch with legal skills competitions. As the site notes, national and international sites are very difficult to find and addresses can change.

LawDictionaries.com provides links to free online law dictionaries and other useful tools for law students and practitioners.

Lawfile is a set of resources, and also a free journal called Obiter, set up by Alan Lowe. It provides lists of courses for law students as well as links to resources categorised by area of law (abortion, banking, Canon law etc).

Law in a Box is an innovative new series of training CD Roms with textbook, recorded lectures and casenotes, linked in with an online chatroom and discussion board, newsletter and weekly updating. The courses are set at student level, covering LLB and LPC/BVC. Apparently, large numbers of the units are being sold at Oxford, Cambridge, London and other Universities and they can also be purchased in Blackwells, Waterstones and other bookshops. The courses cover Contract, Legal System, Constitutional, Criminal, Land Law, Tort, Equity & Trusts, EU Law, Company Law, Employment, Intellectual Property, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Advocacy. They are attractively packaged (yes, in a box) and very cheap (£23.95 plus VAT). These courses are particularly interesting because they combine the physical purchase of something which is nice to handle with CD's and online student (community) activity.

Law Links is a portal for students with links to many useful resources, together with descriptions. There are also search facilities and news feeds. The site is maintained by Kerry Ramsbotham.

lawstudents.org.uk is a set of links prepared by John Nevill. John is himself a student (at the University of East London) and therefore his choice of links may prove to be useful to other students.

LawStudentsForum is an online forum for law students at the University of London (External Programme). You can post new ideas or articles in the forum and comment on the ideas of others.

Law Student Forums is a new forum for law students to talk about the study of law and legal professional training. It has been started by a student at Surrey University.

Law Student provides a free email address "for life".

Lex on the net is an online student magazine from Legalease. The site includes articles from the current issue of the printed magazine (published termly), a calendar of important events during the student law year (application deadlines, law fairs, etc) plus information on the firms and issues related to a career in the law. Well presented and interesting.

LexisNexis provides students with a route into their online services and materials as well as information on current cases and legislation and their possible educational and career paths.

The Malet Street Gazette is devoted to linking the global community of University of London students and graduates, as well as highlighting issues that deal with National Bar Admissions and Internet/Distance Learning. The site provides a place where law students can post questions about their studies or any issue of the law, and covers general discussion of legal issues.

MootingNet provides a structure and lots of background information for the old established occupation of "mooting" (the play acting preparation for a legal career). There is also a useful set of links to other student resources (take "legal Links" option).

Online Legal Coach is a new site set up by group of experienced legal practitioners and law lecturers to provide additional support to law students in their studies. There are study guides and videos, a case law library and a forum in which questions can be asked and answers received from the experts. You have to register (quite a long registration form) to use the resources but it is free. There are some additional services, such as essay marking, which are provided for a fee.

Roll on Friday - news and lighter material and also leisure suggestions, a currency converter and a translator.

Scots Law Student Zone provides advice and links for law students in Scotland. Aside from links to universities, law scools and the diploma in legal practice, the site contains a bulletin board, chat room and advice on getting work experience, traineeships and jobs after studying law.

QED Law Courses provide revision lectures in the core subjects - criminal law, law of contract, legal system, public law, law of tort, equity and trusts, land law and european union law. The revision lectures are for students on university LLB and GDL / CPE courses. These are "real" lectures - not viewed online. Lectures take place in the Chadwick Lecture Theatre in the Chadwick Building and the Pearson Lecture Theatres in the Pearson Building at UCL. There is a schedule of lectures on the web site. A (modest) charge is made for attendance at the lectures.

The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting, the non-profit-making body which prepares The Law Reports and The Weekly Law Reports, offers a free "Student Newsletter" with articles on law reporting and selected case summaries.