Oxford LibGuides: United Kingdom Law: Home

Law of England & Wales and the United Kingdom

For holders of an Oxford SSO the following are the principal online resources at their disposal. Both provide online access to legislation, case law, journal articles and a range of practitioners' texts.

Lexis+ UK
For online access from a device outside the University network or via eduroam, please follow https://plus.lexis.com/uk/xhome?federationidp=RXVSX459307
Alternative names:Lexis ; LexisLibrary ; Lexis Library ; Lexis International

Lexis+ includes extensive primary and secondary legal materials from the UK, EU, USA and many other jurisdictions. It is the only online source for the full text of the All England Law Reports and Halsbury’s Laws. International content can be accessed by following the “International” link on the home page. UK legal news and newspapers are also included
Westlaw Edge UK
Alternative name: West Law UK ; Westlaw UK

Westlaw is provided through a generous donation by Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Westlaw is a large database of UK, US and international legal materials including cases, legislation and journal articles.
Coverage:
•UK statutes, statutory instruments and law reports
•England and Wales law reports
•US federal and state legislation and law reports
•Australian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Canadian federal and state legislation and law reports
•Hong Kong SAR law reports and laws
•European Union legislation and law reports
•UK and US law journals and texts
•Common Law Library and over 200 books published by Sweet & Maxwell (Thomson Reuters)
Because of licencing restrictions this database is not available to "Walk-in" users of the library.

Online resources available to anyone with access to the internet

Legislation.gov.uk
Open access. Official site Use the drop down menu TYPE to limit search to public general acts or statutory instruments or browse by year etc. Excellent for original, historic version (text of act as originally promulgated) and Explanatory Notes for more recent legislation. Pay attention to the current status which is given for each act. More has further details of coverage
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All primary legislation from 1988
All secondary legislation from 1987, including UK Statutory Instruments, Scottish Statutory Instruments and Northern Ireland Statutory Rules. In addition we hold a selection of secondary legislation from 1948-1986, and selected pre-1948 Statutory Rules and Orders
Legislation originating from the EU as set out in Schedule 5 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16) along with corrigenda (correction slips for EU legislation) and EU Directives published up to the end of the EU Exit Implementation Period at 11:00 p.m. on 31 December 2020 ("IP completion day").
Most types of primary legislation (e.g. Acts, Measures, N.I. Orders in Council) are held in 'revised' form, as well as selected secondary legislation, and legislation originating from the EU:

Public General Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament (1801 to date)
Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain (1707 – 1800)
Acts of the English Parliament (1267 – 1706)
Acts of the Old Scottish Parliament (1424 – 1707)
Acts of the Scottish Parliament (1999 to date)
Acts of Senedd Cyrmu (2020 to date)
Acts of the National Assembly for Wales (2012 to 2020)
Measures of the National Assembly for Wales (2008 – 2011)
Acts of the Irish Parliament (1495 – 1800)
Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921 – 1972)
Measures of the Northern Ireland Assembly (1974)
Orders in Council made under the Northern Ireland Acts (1972 to date) (effectively the primary legislation for Northern Ireland under direct rule, though in the form of Statutory Instruments)
Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly (2000 – 2002 and 2007 to date)
Church of England Measures (1920 to date)
UK Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
Scottish Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
Welsh Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland (2018 to date)
European Regulations (1958 to 31 December 2020)
European Decisions (1953 to 31 December 2020)
European Directives (1959 to 31 December 2020)

BAILII
Alternative names: British and Irish Legal Information Institute ; British & Irish Legal Information Institute

Free access to British and Irish judgments. General coverage starts mid 1990s, though earlier key judgments are also included. Bailii also includes a subject arrangement of judgments. The judgments are transcripts and do not include arguments of counsel or headnotes. For a wider selection of Law Reports please see Justis, Lexis or Westlaw.
Find Case Law - Judgments and decisions from 2003 onwards
Free access to judgments and decisions of United Kingdom courts and tribunals. As of June 2023 coverage is of decisions from the superior courts of record – the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and the Upper Tribunals – and from 2003 onwards. The decisions are provided in the form of transcripts of judgments only: they do not include arguments of counsel nor headnotes. Holders of an Oxford SSO are reminded that Westlaw Edge UK, Lexis + UK and i-law are the subscription databases which provide them with published reports of UK judgments.

Bodleian Law Library (the Law Bod or BLL)
The Bodleian Law Library (the Law Bod or BLL) is Oxford University's research library for law, human rights, criminology and socio-legal studies. It supports the staff and students of the Faculty of Law and the wider legal community. Please visit the official website - via this link - for opening hours, floor plans, services etc
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Oxford Alumni are very welcome - but please be sure to have a current Bodleian Reader Card with you before arriving. (Details of the steps required for Oxford graduates are on the official Bodleian website.)
The Bodleian Law Library is proud to be a research library for the wider legal community, once they have been issued with a Bodleian Reader Card from Central Admissions. (Details of the procedure are available on the Bodleian's official website.)

NOTE. The terms of several of the major legal databases mean they are restricted to current members of the student cohort and teaching faculty.

The majority of our current collection of journals and books about English & Welsh/UK law are on open shelf on Level 2, the level at which you enter the Law Library. The Books are arranged by subject/topic in the collection with shelf marks beginning KB to KN.
KZ is the quick reference collection: Halsbury's services, The Digest, Current Law services, Forms and Precedents.

Looking for a Reading List title?

When you search SOLO for books on your Reading List you may find that the location is shown as Law Library Reserve Collection. To read one (or more) of these, please come to the Enquiry Desk with your University or Bodleian Reader's Card and ask for the titles you need there.
Note. Books in the Law Reserve collection are available to all categories of readers, not just those on the particular course.

The law reports are also on Level 2, with shelf marks beginning Cw UK 120.

English law journals are also on Level 2, arranged alphabetically by title with shelf marks beginning Cw UK 300

If your research has inter or cross disciplinary elements or dimensions, SOLO may reveal other Bodleian Libraries have material which would support your studies.
In most cases, if you have a current Oxford University Card or a Bodleian Reader's Card, you will already be able to access these libraries - however, please do check information on the other Libraries' own websites, particularly their location & opening hours.

Bodleian Social Science Library (SSL)
The Bodleian Social Science Library (SSL) supports teaching and research subjects which can be of interdisciplinary interest to lawyers - criminology, socio-legal studies, sociology, politics, international relations, economics, geography (including environmental studies) and refugee studies. Please visit the SSL's official website - via this link - for opening hours, services etc
Bodleian History Faculty Library (HFL) in Radcliffe Camera:
The iconic landmark the Radcliffe Camera (the Rad Cam) is home to the History Faculty Library (HFL). Please visit the official website - via this link - for opening hours, services etc

Other UK Jurisdictions

This guide is mainly concerned with law which applies in the jurisdiction of England and Wales. Those elements which are United Kingdom law will apply also to Scotland and Northern Ireland. Depending on your research focus you might find the guides below useful.