United Kingdom legal resources
Use the Catalogue to find material in the University of Auckland Library’s collection of law reports, books, and journals.
Key databases
- Westlaw International
United Kingdom legal resources including legislation, reported case law from England, Wales and Scotland, law reviews and journals, and legal commentaries. - Lexis Advance
Explore US Research > International > United Kingdom to find the legal resources including legislation, case law, and law reviews and journals from England, Wales and Scotland.
Full list of library databases for Law.
Case law online | Case citators | Historic case law | Law report abbreviations | Selected web resources
Case law online
- Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR online)
Includes the official Law Reports series: Appeal Cases, Chancery, Queen's and King's Bench, Family report series. Also the ICLR published case law series including: Weekly Law Reports, Business Law Reports, The Public and Third Sector Reports, and Industrial Cases Reports. - Westlaw UK
Includes judgments and law reports on a range of topics (use ICLR online above for access to the official Law Reports). - Westlaw International
Access to All United Kingdom Cases including: - Lexis Advance
Includes a selection of law reports including All England Law Reports (All ER), and important specialised reports such as the Butterworths Human Rights Cases, Estates Gazette Law Reports, and the Industrial Relations Law Reports. - National Archives (UK) Find case law
Includes official open access judgments and decisions from courts and tribunals since April 2022. - British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII)
Public website containing unreported judgments from the England and Wales Court of Appeal and High Court, and the United Kingdom Supreme Court, as well as a range of courts and tribunals. - British Tax Cases (BTC)
Published by CCH. Includes cases from the historic Tax Cases (TC) law reporting series. - Lloyd's Law Reports
Includes cases on maritime law, commercial law, contract and insurance.
Case citators
- vLexJustis
This legal citator provides information about United Kingdom cases, and the related legislation and articles. Part of the Justis platform.
Historic case law
- English Reports
Includes a collection of reprinted English nominate reports from 1220-1865. English Reports free via CommonLII. - Revised Reports via HeinOnline > Seldon Society Publications
Includes nominate reports between 1785-1866, which were edited by Sir Frederick Pollack into the Revised Reports series published in 1891. - All England Law Reports Reprints (All ER Rep)
Includes reprinted early English cases from 1558-1936 which were considered to remain relevant when the series was published (1957-1968). - Making of Modern Law - Trials, 1600-1926
Anglo-American trials from 1600-1926 including popular printed accounts of sensational trials. - World Trials via HeinOnline
Includes historic cases and trials including Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials edited by TB Howell, and the Reports of State Trials - The Year Books
Index and database of the Year Books, the law reports of medieval England from 1268-1535, compiled by David J Seipp at Boston University. - The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London 1674-1913
Includes criminal trials heard at the Old Bailey from April 1674-1913. - Privy Council Papers Online
Free online catalogue of Appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, containing details of case records from 1792-1998. - Bracton's Note Book: A Collection of Cases Decided in the Kings Courts During the Reign of Henry the Third
Edited by FW Maitland in 1887. - The Digest (formerly called the The English and Empire Digest)
A comprehensive print digest of cases arranged by subject. Useful for tracing and verifying older case law. - House of Lords judgments
Public website containing an archive of House of Lords unreported judgments from November 1996 - July 2009.
Law report abbreviations
- Law Reports located at the Davis (PDF)
Search for law report abbreviations. Includes location details of all print law reports located in the Davis Law Library. - Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
Guide to legal abbreviations from around the world. Search by abbreviation or by title to identify a case report series. - Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations (Raistrick)
Selected web resources
- Privy Council Judgments
From the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Judgments are also available in HTML format on the BAILII website. - Employment Appeal Tribunal
Judgments from 1990.
Official legislation | Compiled legislation | Historical legislation | Bills
Official legislation
- Legislation.gov.uk
The official website for legislation currently in force in the United Kingdom, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Includes Public, Local and Private Acts, and Statutory Instruments.
Compiled legislation
- Westlaw UK
Includes primary and secondary legislation for the United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and retained EU legislation. - Westlaw International
Access to United Kingdom Law in Force (Statutes and Statutory Instruments) and Scots Law in Force (Statutes and Statutory Instruments). - Lexis Advance
Historic legislation
- vLexJustis
As enacted copies of United Kingdom legislation from 1235 onwards. - Westlaw International
- United Kingdom Law in Force: Historic contains historical versions of United Kingdom statutes and statutory instruments from 1992.
- United Kingdom Law in Force: Historic Statutes includes historical versions of Statutes from 1992.
- United Kingdom Law in Force: Historic Statutory Instruments includes historical versions of Statutory Instruments from 1992.
- Parliament Rolls of Medieval England
The official records of the meetings of the English parliaments from Edward I to Henry VII, covering the years 1272-1504. - Statutes at Large database via Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Includes English statutes passed between the 13th and 19th centuries. - Statutes of the Realm database via HeinOnline
Includes English statutes passed between 1235-1713. - State Papers Online
Includes records of the Government of Britain 1509-1714, including the Acts of the Privy Council of England 1542-1631.
Bills
- Bills before Parliament
From the United Kingdom Parliament. Includes current and draft Bills, and Bills from earlier Parliamentary sessions back to 2002. - Legislative process
A guide to the passage of a Bill through the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Judicial dictionaries | Law dictionaries | Encyclopedias | Commentaries | Historical commentaries
Judicial dictionaries
Judicial dictionaries provide definitions of words and phrases established in decided cases, legislation and other legal documents.
Available at the Davis Law Library:
- Stroud's Judicial Dictionary of Words and Phrases
- Words and Phrases Legally Defined
- Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law
Law dictionaries
- Osborn's Concise Law Dictionary
Available at the Davis Law Library. - A Dictionary of Law
Online version published by Oxford University Press.
Encyclopedias
Available at the Davis Law Library:
Commentaries
Use the Catalogue to find books, and looseleaf commentaries within the University of Auckland Library’s collection.
- Common Law Library
Catalogue search for the Common Law Library series of authoritative United Kingdom legal books written by legal scholars. Some titles are available as ebooks within the Westlaw UK database. - Westlaw UK
Includes selected Common Law Library titles including the cumulative supplements: Benjamin's Sale of Goods; Bowstead & Reynolds on Agency; Chitty on Contracts; Clerk & Lindsell on Torts; Dicey, Morris & Collins on the Conflict of Laws; Gatley on Libel and Slander; Goff & Jones: The Law of Unjust Enrichment; McGregor on Damages.
Also includes selected Sweet & Maxwell texts: Double Taxation Conventions; Palmer's Company Law; Renton and Brown Criminal Procedure; Terrell on the Law of Patents; Copinger and Jones Skone on Copyright; Kerly's Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names; Weinberg & Blank on Takeovers & Mergers; Woodfall: Landlord and Tenant. - Westlaw International
Explore Westlaw international > International Materials > United Kingdom > All United Kingdom Treatises to find these online versions of these authoritative legal commentaries:- Archbold on Criminal Law the leading treatise on criminal law and evidence in England and Wales.
- Palmer's Company Law comprehensive treatise covering United Kingdom company law, including the formation of companies, corporate transactions, mergers and takeovers, and insolvency.
- Terrell on the Law of Patents the leading treatise covering United Kingdom patent law and litigation practice, and the nature of patentable inventions.
- Kerly's Law of Trade Marks a treatise on trademark law and the legal protection of trade names and product brands.
- Civil Procedure Rules (White Book Service) a treatise on civil procedure rules for the County Courts, High Court, and the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal in England and Wales.
- Bullen Leake & Jacob's Precedents of Pleadings a treatise on drafting of statements of case and other court papers under the rules of civil procedure for England and Wales.
- International Commercial Arbitration a treatise on international commercial arbitration, including the drafting of the arbitration agreements, and enforcement of arbitration tribunal awards.
- Oxford Scholarship Online
Provides the ability to search the content of some of law books published by Oxford University Press. Some are available online, others may be found in the Library Catalogue. - Cambridge Books
Search across a range of books published by Cambridge University Press. Some of titles are available online.
Historical commentaries
- Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800-1926
Includes legal treatises written by influential legal writers of the time including Bentham, Dicey, Blackstone and Holmes. - HeinOnline
Includes a range of legal history databases including Legal Classics and the Seldon Society Publications and the History of Early English Law collection. - Bracton Online
A free digitised copy of De legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae [Bracton on the Laws and Customs of England], a common law treatise of the Middle Ages.
Journal indexes | Full text journals
Journal indexes
- Index to Legal Periodicals and Books
Indexes a range law reviews, journals, yearbooks and book reviews. Coverage from 1978. - Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective
Indexes law reviews, journals, yearbooks and annual reviews. Coverage includes 1908-1981. - Westlaw International
Legal Journals Index indexes articles from legal journals published in the United Kingdom and Europe as well as journals covering topics pertaining to the laws of the European Community and its Member States. Coverage from 1986. - LegalTrac
Indexes a range of law reviews and journals, many published in the United Kingdom.
Full text journals
- Westlaw UK
Includes legal journals published by Sweet & Maxwell on a wide range of legal subjects. - Westlaw International
Explore Westlaw International > International Materials > United Kingdom > All United Kingdom Journals to find articles from legal periodicals published by Sweet & Maxwell. Coverage varies by publication. - Lexis Advance
Parliament | Government | Law reform | Legal research guides | Other materials
Parliament
- Bills & Legislation
Bills and Public, Local and Private Acts, and Statutory Instruments created by the United Kingdom Parliament. - United Kingdom Parliament
Main website provides links to Parliamentary Business and a guide to how Parliament works. - Command Papers and Act Papers
Includes a range of government reports including Monopolies and Mergers Commisson reports and Law Commission reports. - Select Committee Publications
Includes the House of Commons select committees, House of Lords select committees and Joint Committees of both Houses publications. - Hansard
Debates and reports of proceedings of the House of Commons from November 1988, and the House of Lords from 1995. - Parliamentary publications and records
From the United Kingdom Parliament including research briefings. - Parliamentary Papers
Historic parliamentary publications from the House of Commons and the House of Lords including Bills, Hansard, and Parliamentary Papers, and Private Acts. Includes content from 1660-1834 although date coverage varies for each type of official record. - Scottish Parliament | Pàrlamaid na h-Alba
The main website includes Parliamentary Business and a guide to how the Scottish Parliament works. - Welsh Parliament | Senedd Cymru
Includes Senedd Business and Legislation. - Northern Ireland Assembly
Includes Assembly Business and Assembly Legislation.
Government
- GOV.UK
The main government website with links to all government services, ministerial departments, other agencies and public bodies. - National Archives (UK) Find case law official versions of open access court judgments and tribunal decisions starting from April 2022.
- Ministry of Justice and a list of their publications
- United Kingdom Treaties
A database of treaties involving the United Kingdom created by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. - The Gazette
A database of the daily official public record of the Crown notices. Includes the historic London Gazette from 1665, the Edinburgh Gazette, and Belfast Gazette. - LawWales
Information about the Constitution and government and law making in Wales.
Law reform
- Law Commission
A statutory body created to keep the law under review and recommend reform. Includes law reform reports and consultations from 1996. Pre-1996 reports are available on BAILII.
Legal research guides
- Globalex A Guide to the UK Legal System
An overview of legal resources for the United Kingdom, Scotland and Northern Ireland. - Oxford University Bodleian Law Library - United Kingdom Law guide
Focuses on legal resources for England and Wales. - Oxford University Bodleian Law Library - Legal History: English and Common Law Tradition
Comprehensive guide to legal history sources for England, Wales and Ireland. - Oxford University Bodleian Law Library - Scottish Law guide
Focuses on legal resources for Scotland.
Other materials
Additional sites of interest include:
- British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII)
Public website containing legislation, unreported judgments and decisions, and law commission reports from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
New Zealand Law Style Guide
All written work completed for the Faculty of Law must comply with the New Zealand Law Style Guide.
For further guidance on the citation of United Kingdom sources not covered by the New Zealand Law Style Guide, see the Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities.
For assistance with law reports and journal abbreviations for the UK see Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
Support
- Referencing
Access a range of tools and support material to assist your referencing work.
Examples
- Quick©ite
Use this interactive tool to view examples of references.
Covers a range of styles used at the University of Auckland including the NZLSG.
Last updated : 28 November 2022
