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Legal research skills for Scots lawyers

Introductory Comments by the Author

Welcome to the August 2008 online update to Legal Research Skills for Scots Lawyers.

Both paper and, especially, electronic sources of legal information have continued to develop since the publication of the second edition of Legal Research Skills for Scots Lawyers in September 2007. This update attempts to include the most important changes. Material is presented on a chapter by chapter basis with specific references to relevant paragraph numbers in the second edition. I have also included useful further reading that has been recently published.

I would like to thank Lyn Mair for her help with the initial stages of this update.

Please note that only those chapters where changes have occurred are listed.

I hope that this update will allow readers of the book to keep up to date with developments in between editions.

Karen Fullerton

• Chapter 2 Using Electronic Resources for Legal Research
• Chapter 3 An Introduction to Cases
• Chapter 4 Search Strategies for Finding Cases
• Chapter 5 Legislation
• Chapter 6 Search Strategies for Finding UK Parliament Legislation
• Chapter 7 Search Strategies for Finding Scottish Parliament Legislation
• Chapter 8 Information Sources of Relevance to the Scots Lawyer
• Chapter 9 UK-Wide Legal Information Sources which Exclude Scots Law
• Chapter 10 EC Law
• Chapter 11 International Law

Chapter 2 Using Electronic Resources for Legal Research

2.2A Blogs
An increasing number of law-related blogs are now available. A blog is a website which tends to be operated by an individual and which is updated frequently with commentary. Entries appear in reverse chronological order. Some blogs allow readers to leave their own comments. An example of a Scots law blog is Criminal letters http://criminalletters.blogspot.com/ which contains material about Scottish criminal law and procedure.

Blogs can be useful to the legal researcher in that they can provide access to information and comment at an early stage before commentary appears in journal articles. However, it is important to assess the amount of authority which can be given to the material contained in a blog. Key to this is the author and their reputation-see paras 2.44-2.51 on the evaluation of online resources. It is also important to be clear that blogs do not have the status of journal articles or texts which should always be referenced in preference.

2.2B Websites produced by law firms
If you use a search engine to search for legal terms you will often retrieve links to information on a law firm's website or newsletters. Material from such sites should not be used as a reference in academic work. This is because the aim of these sites is to advertise the particular law firm and they are not authoritative sources of legal information appropriate for referencing in academic work.

2.2C Podcasts
A podcast is essentially an audio recording which can be downloaded and listened to on portable media players and computers. Their use is increasing in the legal field e.g. the Edinburgh University website has podcasts available for an interesting selection of major lectures given at the university since 2006: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/blogsandpodcasts/podcasts.aspx.

2.6 Increasingly universities are moving away from providing access to subscription services via the Athens Access Management System. Alternative access management systems are tending to be used which allow access via your university password.

2.26 LexisNexis Butterworths made changes to its interface in the spring of 2008. While the principles of searching have generally remained the same there are now some additional features which have improved the presentation of the database and made the system more user-friendly. These have been noted in the relevant paragraphs. Some names have been altered e.g. the homepage is now referred to as the Start Page.

2.27 The Statute Law Database is still not fully up to date. This process is ongoing but with no firm timescale specified. This means that caution must continue to be used when using this site and sources of legislation which are updated (such as Westlaw) should be used in preference.

2.51A Important reminder about the status of material retrieved electronically
In the author's experience students are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate between the large and diverse sources of information retrieved via online searching. This is a problem as it is resulting in the increasing practice of inappropriate material being treated as authoritative and being used as sources for coursework. This issue does not relate solely to students. "Evidence has emerged that increasing numbers of solicitors, from trainees to senior partners, are putting clients and their own practices at possible risk by using collaboratively written online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, Google and other search engines for legal research." (J. Rayner "Net-surfing Lawyers warned of Compliance Risk" Law Society Gazette 2008http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/net-surfing-lawyers-warned-compliance-risk (accessed 24/07/2008). Failure to research the law accurately can clearly lead to the provision of misleading advice which could constitute negligence and leave a solicitor open to being sued.

It is very important to base your research on authoritative sources such as textbooks, articles published in legal journals, legal encyclopaedias, official governmental reports or primary legal materials such as legislation and case law. Sources such as blogs, law firms' websites/ newsletters and Wikipedia are not authoritative legal sources and should not be used as such. It is essential to evaluate online resources as described in paras 2.44-2.51 before using them in your academic work.

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Chapter 3 An Introduction to Cases

3.1 There is now a new edition of R.M. White & I.D. Willock, The Scottish Legal System, 4th edn (Haywards Heath: Tottel, 2007) and the relevant discussion on judicial precedent is on pp 335-371.

3.12 Session Cases is now available from 1898 on Westlaw. Note that due to the fact that the citation SC only applies from 1907, the cases from 1898-1906 appear in the Table of Contents under the heading "Fraser's Session Cases, 5th Series (Scotland)".

Session Cases is now available via Justis from 1873.

There is now a new series of Scottish law reports called Scottish Criminal Law whose details are as follows:

Title	Scottish Criminal Law
Abbreviation	SCL
Citation	e.g. Scott v HM Advocate 2008 SCL 330
Period covered	2007 to present
Publisher and Editor	W.Green, Sheriff T. Welsh, Q.C.
Comments	Commentaries are by the editor
Available in	Print only
Courts covered	Privy Council, High Court of Justiciary, sheriff court
Format	The monthly issues contain the following information: Index of reported cases by subject Detailed articles on aspects of criminal law Appeal Court Note Case reports. Selected cases are followed by commentaries. Sentencing reports. Selected cases are followed by commentaries. Personal opinion. Brief articles on topical issues
Updated	Published monthly

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Chapter 4 Search Strategies for Finding Cases

4.3 Session Cases is now available from 1898 on Westlaw. Note that due to the fact that the citation SC only applies from 1907, the cases from 1898-1906 appear in the Table of Contents under the heading "Fraser's Session Cases, 5th Series (Scotland)".

4.16 The changes made in spring 2008 (see 2.26 above) have brought some minor changes to searching for case law. These include name changes e.g. the homepage is now referred to as the Start Page, the appearance of the case search form and the introduction of some additional features.

4.17 The cases search form which appears when you choose the cases tab from the Start Page is now more user friendly e.g. the case name field is split into two with a "v" already in the template. This means that you just insert the party name into the appropriate box.

4.18 When you retrieve your results the results form has altered. The Show drop-down list now allows you to select different formats in which to view your results: List, Expanded List, List with Catchwords, or full text. List with Catchwords is a new option and lists the case names alongside the catchwords assigned to them. The Sort drop-down list allows you to sort your results by date, jurisdiction, court, case name, relevance or source order. Once you have accessed the full text there is a find out more box which gives you the option of finding related commentary or related cases.

4.19 Justis now contains Session Cases from 1873, Business Law Reports from 2000 and Extradition Law Reports from 2005?.

4.28A CaseCheck is a free (requires registration) online service which provides short summaries of cases in the Scottish courts (with links to the full decision on the Scottish Courts Website) and in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (with links to the full decision on the EAT's website). Cases are categorised by subject areas under which recent cases can be browsed and it is possible to search by word, phrase, subject, court and date. Its coverage starts in 2000.

4.35 The Current Law Case Citators are now in seven volumes. Scottish Case Citator volumes are currently: 1948-1976, 1977-1997, 1998-2001, 2002-2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

4.38 Searching all the Case Citator volumes now involves:

4.40 JUSTCITE has expanded its case coverage and now indexes Session Cases (from 1873), Scots Law Times (from 2007), and Green's Weekly Digest (from 2007). References from the following are recognised: Scottish Criminal Case Reports, Scottish Civil Law Reports, Scottish Land Court Reports and Morison's Dictionary of Decisions.

4.46 The Law Reports Index (the "Red Indexes") is now contained in six bound volumes: 1951-1960, 1961-1970, 1971-1980, 1981-1990, 1991-2000, 2001-2005 with a paperback volume covering 2006-2007.

4.50 The cases search form which appears when you choose the cases tab from the Start Page is now more user friendly e.g. the case name field is split into two with a "v" already in the template. This means that you just insert the party name into the appropriate box.

4.72 There is now a new edition: Gloag & Henderson, The Law of Scotland 12th edn (Edinburgh: W. Green, 2007).

4.85 A new edition has been published of Words and Phrases Legally Defined: D Hay, Words and Phrases Legally Defined 4th edn (Haywards Heath: Tottel, 2007). It now appears as a two-volume set with annual cumulative supplements.

4.97 In this example of searching whether there have been cases on a particular statutory provision a new step 7 should be inserted:

Step 7

Check the Statute Citator in the Legislation Citators volume 2007. There are no entries.

The existing step 7 becomes step 8.

4.119 In this example of checking whether the case has been judicially considered a new step 6 should be inserted:

Step 6

Check the Case Citator volume 2007. There are no entries.

The existing step 6 becomes step 7.

4.141 Social Security and Child Support Commissioners Scotland website is now available at http://www.ossc-scotland.org.uk/index.php.

4.143 Additional Support Needs Tribunals for Scotland website is now available at http://www.asntscotland.gov.uk/asnts/CCC_FirstPage.jsp and contains a decisions database.

4.145 Legal blogs (see para 2.2A above and 8.75A below) and frequently updated newsletters/information services produced by law firms (see para 2.2B above and 8.75B below) can be useful sources of comment on a very recent case and will tend to appear before journal commentary is available.

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Chapter 5 Legislation

5.21 There is now a new edition of R.M. White & I.D. Willock, The Scottish Legal System 4th edn (Haywards Heath: Tottel, 2007) and the relevant discussion on statutory interpretation is in Ch. 11.

5.26 The following new editions have been published:

• A.W. Bradley and K.D. Ewing, Constitutional and Administrative Law 14th edn with 2008 Supplement (Pearson Education Ltd, August 2008).
• Carroll, Constitutional and Administrative Law 4th edn (Longman, 2007).

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Chapter 6 Search Strategies for Finding UK Parliament Legislation

6.2 Bills before Parliament in the current session are now accessible via http://services.parliament.uk/bills.

6.8 See para 6.2 above.

6.31 The legislation part of the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/about_legislation.htm) is now divided into four: new; original; revised; and chronological tables (see para 6.119).

The New Legislation section
(http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/whatsnew.htm) contains information about available RSS feeds, details of Acts about to receive the royal assent and statutory instruments and draft statutory instruments which have recently been added to OPSI. It contains a New Scottish Legislation area which links to Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish statutory instruments which have recently been added.

The Original Legislation section
( http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/original.htm) is the principal component of OPSI as this is the area which contains the official electronic original version of Acts of Parliament. It is sub-divided into: UK; Northern Ireland; Scotland; and Wales. The UK section (see para 6.31) now additionally contains some Public General Acts between 1837 and 1987 and some Local Acts between 1857 and 1990. This legislation is all reproduced in its original form and is published as pdfs.

The Revised Legislation section
( http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/revised.htm) contains information taken from the Statute Law Database. This is currently only revised legislation made or enacted before 1988 and some of this legislation does not yet contain all subsequent revisions and therefore must be treated with caution (see para 6.45).

A breadcrumb trail is now available so you can keep track of your route to a particular page within OPSI.

RSS feeds are now available so that when a new piece of legislation or Explanatory Notes etc on your chosen subject is published, details will be notified to you.

The search facility has been improved. After your results are retrieved you can now refine your search by subject terms or related subjects e.g. a search using the term "sewage" could be refined by "beaches", "drainage and sewage", "septic tanks", "sewage pumping stations" or "sewage treatment and disposal". The related search offered was "coasts". However, care must be taken when using the search facility for pre-1988 Acts to ensure that you are aware whether you have located the original or revised version. For pre-1988 Acts it would therefore be advisable to use the browse facility as opposed to the search option.

As can be seen from the above there have been many developments on this website and more are planned for the future. The intention is to streamline the provision of online legislation by both OPSI and the Statute Law Database and to improve public access to these important resources.

6.45 The Statute Law Database is still not fully up to date. This process is ongoing but with no firm timescale specified.

6.47 All legislation held in revised form has now been updated at least to the end of 2002.

6.57 The results within legislation page for this example now shows a warning that there are outstanding amendments in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

6.61 This site previously only contained Acts of Parliament in their original form which were freely available on the web via OPSI. It has now added UK legislation prior to 1988 as available via the Statute Law Database and when you access the Acts on BAILII there are links to the Statute Law Database for further updates and information. When the full updating process is completed by the Statute Law Database this will be an excellent resource, however, in the meantime the same degree of caution must be used with this site as with the Statute Law Database itself (see para 2.27 above).

6.70 The Current Law Legislation Citator (formerly called Statute Citators) volumes are now: 1948-1971, 1972-1988, 1989-1995, 1996-1999, 2000-2001, 2002-2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

6.73 Searching all the Statute Citator volumes now involves:

6.88 See para 6.31 above.

6.89 See para 6.61 above.

6.94 This is now a bi-annual publication. The most recent edition is Is It In Force? Summer 2008.

6.110 The latest version is Chronological Table of the Statutes 1235-2006 and covers the period 1235-2006.

6.119 This material has now been updated to December 2006.

6.124 The relevant section of OPSI is now http://www.opsi.gov.uk/local-acts.htm OPSI additionally contains some UK Local Acts between 1857 and 1990. This material is available in pdfs.

6.148 Searching all the Statutory Instrument Citator volumes now involves:

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Chapter 7 Search Strategies for Finding Scottish Parliament Legislation

7.5 The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 website launched in May 2008 ( http://www.rps.ac.uk/). It is a database containing the proceedings of the Scottish Parliaments from the first surviving Act of 1235 to the union of 1707. There are chronological tables of statutes which list Scots Acts from 1427-1707. These tables usefully both list the Acts by reign and also contain cross referencing between the different systems of citation. Thus the example used in para 7.4, the Registration Act 1579, appears under the reign of James VI with the following cross references: APS iii 142, c.13 (Record edition)/ c.75 (Glendook) /Registration (short title/subject matter) / 1579/10/28 (RPS reference). You can then access the text by inserting the RPS reference in the search box at the top of the page. You can view either the manuscript record or a translation. Other features of the site are the ability to browse by reign, an advanced search function, a historical introduction to the Scottish Parliaments and an interesting glossary.

7.10 If you want to check on the progress of Bills generally at the Parliament, go to the Current Bills section of the Scottish Parliament website and click on the link to the Current Bills Tracker.

This provides details of all the Bills currently going through Parliament and is updated on a weekly basis.

7.17 Information about a Bill passed in the current session of Parliament is now accessed by selecting Bills from the drop down menu on the Scottish Parliament homepage (http://www.scottish.parliament.uk) and then clicking on Previous Bills from the menu on the left hand side of the screen.

7.23 The reference to "committee meetings in the Official Report section on the left hand side of the screen" should now be Reports: Committees. If you follow this link you can then click on the name of the committee which will take you to links to the relevant meeting papers and official reports. You can then scroll down and find the discussion of particular Bills.

7.25 The link to Explanatory Notes for Acts of the Scottish Parliament on OPSI is now at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/s-acts.htm.

The office of the Queen's Printer for Scotland (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/acts/) now presents Explanatory Notes in the same way as OPSI.

7.31 Office of the Queen's Printer for Scotland website free

The design of this website has altered and now mirrors the presentational features provided by OPSI. The homepage (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/) allows access to several sections: New legislation, Acts of the Scottish Parliament; Scottish Statutory Instruments; Scotland Act 1998 and Associated Delegated Legislation; UK Legislation for Scotland; and Tables of Effect. All the legislation is in its original form. Unfortunately the site only has a basic search option.

The New Legislation section (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/new-legislation) contains information about available RSS feeds, details of Acts of the Scottish Parliament about to receive the royal assent and details of Scottish statutory instruments which have recently been added to OQPS.

The Acts of the Scottish Parliament section (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/acts/) contains links to the full original text of all Acts of the Scottish Parliament which are grouped by year (together with Explanatory Notes) and within each year they can be viewed either alphabetically or chronologically by asp number.

The Scottish Statutory Instruments section (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/ssi/) see para 7.75 below.

The Scotland Act 1998 and Associated Delegated Legislation section (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/scotland-act-delegated-legislation/) provides links to the Scotland Act and associated delegated legislation made under powers granted by the Scotland Act which established the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government.

The UK Legislation for Scotland section (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/uk/) provides links to the full text of all UK Acts of Parliament (from 1988 onwards) and Statutory Instruments (from 1997 onwards) and any accompanying Explanatory Notes and Explanatory Memoranda, which apply exclusively or primarily to Scotland.

The Tables of Effect section (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/tables-of-effect/) links to the Tables of Effect which give details of those Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish statutory instruments which have been repealed/revoked or amended by Acts of the Scottish Parliament, Scottish statutory instruments, Acts of the UK Parliament and statutory instruments which received Royal Assent or were made during a particular year. The Tables appear chronologically and there is also a guide to using the Tables.

7.32 Acts of the Scottish Parliament now appear on OPSI (see para 6.31 above) in the Scotland area of the Original Legislation section (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/s-acts.htm).
In addition, the New Legislation section (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/whatsnew.htm) contains a New Scottish Legislation area which links to Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish statutory instruments which have recently been added to the website.

7.34 In order to search for an Act of the Scottish Parliament you now need to select the legislation tab from the Start Page. This opens up the legislation search form. Select Scottish Parliament Acts from the Sources drop-down list and select the Act option. If you do not know the name of the Act you can enter words or phrases in the Search terms box.

7.35 The Statute Law Database is still not fully up to date. This process is ongoing but with no firm timescale specified.

7.38 See para 6.61 above.

7.46 See para 6.31 above.

7.47 See para 6.61 above.

7.53 This is now a bi-annual publication. The most recent edition is Is It In Force? Summer 2008.

7.59 The Statute Law Database is still not fully up to date. This process is ongoing but with no firm timescale specified.

7.65 See para 7.59.

7.69 The latest version is Chronological Table of the Statutes 1235-2006 and covers in the period 1235-2006.

7.75 Office of the Queen's Printer for Scotland website free

The Scottish Statutory Instruments section (http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/ssi/) contains links to all published Scottish statutory instruments made under powers granted by the Scotland Act 1998. From 2007 unpublished local statutory instruments which are numbered in the same statutory instrument series are also available. These statutory instruments are not available in printed form. From July 2005 Executive Notes are available in pdf format. See also 7.31 above.

7.76 Scottish statutory instruments now appear on OPSI (see para 6.31 above) in the Scotland area of the Original Legislation section (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/s-stat.htm).
In addition, the New Legislation section (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/whatsnew.htm) contains a New Scottish Legislation area which links to Scottish statutory instruments which have recently been added.

7.86 In order to search for a Scottish statutory instrument you now need to select the legislation tab from the Start Page. This opens up the legislation search form. Select Scottish Parliament SIs from the Sources drop-down list and select the SI option. If you do not know the name of the statutory instrument you can enter words or phrases in the Search terms box.

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Chapter 8 Information Sources of Relevance to the Scots Lawyer

8.5 In the upgrade of LexisNexis Butterworths which took place in the spring of 2008 a useful new feature was added. When you go into a particular title or part of a title you can now click in a box on the right hand side which is headed 'View whole of' and this allows you to view the whole title or section of the title selected. This facility makes reading the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia much easier than in the past.

8.10 There is now a new edition: Gloag & Henderson, The Law of Scotland 12th edn (Edinburgh: W. Green, 2007).

8.25 A new (4th edition) has been published of Words and Phrases Legally Defined: D Hay, Words and Phrases Legally Defined 4th edn (Haywards Heath: Tottel, 2007). It now appears as a two-volume set with annual cumulative supplements.

8.38 Although principally a provider of abstracts, The Index to Theses service now offers a link to the full text in a small number of cases but, more usually, information on how to gain access to the full text.

8.40 The Edinburgh Law Review is now available via Westlaw from 1996 onwards.

SCOLAG has made full versions of articles appearing in a number of special series within SCOLAG Legal Journal freely available on its website (http://www.scolag.org/) under the heading Series and Supplements.

A new Scottish journal aimed at the profession was launched in October 2007. Scottish Criminal Law (SCL) is published monthly and contains articles, appeal court notes, case reports, sentencing reports and a personal opinion section.

The electronic legal journals Journal of Information Law & Technology (J.I.L.T.)
(http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/) and SCRIPTed - A Journal of Law, Technology & Society (http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/) are now both also available via BAILII (http://www.bailii.org/).

8.62 Additional sources for finding non-law journal articles:

Social Science Research Network (http://www.ssrn.com/) (online) free but requires registration
The SSRN states that it is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research and is composed of a number of specialised research networks in each of the social sciences. It has a large collection of abstracts and working papers. This site allows access to mainly US and international material with a mixture of full text and abstract availability.

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) online subscription
IBSS includes over 2.5 million references to journal articles, books, reviews and selected chapters dating back to 1951. It is updated weekly.

Business Source Premier online subscription
This business orientated database provides full text of more than 2,300 journals and is updated daily.

OAIster (online) free
OAIster (http://www.oaister.org/) gives access to digitised resources from 1,000 contributors. This can be a useful way of gaining access to e-theses.

8.71A An increasingly popular alternative to checking multiple news sites is to receive RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds. This allows you to set up a feed for relevant updated information from a variety of sources to be notified directly to you.

8.75 UK, regional and Scottish news releases from Government departments and agencies are now available from the News Distribution Service (NDS) http://nds.coi.gov.uk/.

The latest news from ePolitix.com is now available at http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/.

Scottish Legal News is a new free daily news digest service which started in June 2008. It is a joint venture between Scottish News Agency and the Scottish Legal Action Group. It provides both useful and interesting legal news items via an email newsletter.

8.75A A number of blogs are now available which provide information about legal developments. A blog tends to be a website which is operated by an individual and which is updated frequently with commentary. Entries appear in reverse chronological order. The following blogs provide information about Scottish legal developments.

Scots Law News (http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/sln/) has been a popular news site since 1996 but was relaunched as a blog in May 2008. It is edited by Professor Hector MacQueen and Scott Wortley of Edinburgh University. It contains regular updates to news stories about the latest developments in Scots Law. Its archive is searchable via a basic search engine.

CJScotland (http://www.cjscotland.org.uk/) provides information about criminal justice issues in Scotland. It is produced by a team headed by Mary Munro. It gathers material from news organisations, Government, and both official and voluntary agencies. It also contains articles and book reviews. Its content goes back to October 2003 and can be searched by date or basic search engine. The site is also in the process of making a digitised version of James Devon's 1912 work "The Criminal and the Community" (London: John Lane/Bodley Head, 1912).

Criminal letters (http://criminalletters.blogspot.com/) is a blog about Scottish criminal law and procedure maintained by James Chalmers, a senior lecturer at Edinburgh University which started in 2007.

8.75B In addition to checking sites, it is possible to register for email alerts to be sent from many databases and online resources. Linex Legal is an alert service which is free to most universities. Registration allows you to receive weekly e-mail alerts which contain details of, and links to, online newsletter material produced by law firms and organisations in the UK and other countries including Australia, Canada, France and the United States. You can select your preferred jurisdictions and practice areas.

8.75C In addition to (and increasingly used as an alternative to) checking sites, it is possible to use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to make you aware of the latest legal developments. This allows you to set up a feed for relevant updated information from a variety of sources to be notified directly to you. Many different types of legal sources now offer this facility including Westlaw, Scottish Government publications, OPSI, many different journals and blogs (e.g. Scots Law News).

8.101 The News Distribution Service (NDS) http://nds.coi.gov.uk/ has replaced the Government News Network. NDS has all the same features but additionally allows you to sign up for personalised news and information.

8.121 The Scottish Committee of the Council of Tribunals has been replaced by the Scottish Committee of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (http://www.ajtc.gov.uk/scottish/scottish.htm).

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service website is now http://www.copfs.gov.uk/

Other additional sources of official information of interest to the legal researcher:

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman http://www.spso.org.uk/ provides details of the ombudsman's investigative reports.

Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland http://www.judicialappointmentsscotland.gov.uk/judicial/JUD_Main.jsp?p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&pContentID=439& provides access to annual reports from 2002-03 (in the downloads section) as well as information about various judicial offices and vacancies.

8.125 Additional sources of information aimed at practitioners

Scottish Justices Association (SJA) http://www.scottishjustices.org/ provides information about the SJA which was formed on 11 May 2007.

Law Society of Scotland Directory of Expert Witnesses 2008 http://www.expertwitnessscotland.info/
This is a searchable source of expert witnesses in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is published jointly between The Law Society of Scotland and W. Green. It is possible to search by name, keyword or structured search. A 2009 edition is due to be published in October 2008.

8.126 The Scottish Courts website now includes a Google Map facility for all Scottish court locations at http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/locations/index.asp

8.128 Old Bailey proceedings 1674-1913 http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
This fascinating site has good search facilities and contains materials from 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.

8.129 HERO Online catalogues
The URL of the alphabetical listing with links to all UK higher education library catalogues has changed to: http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/reference_and_subject_resources/institution_facilities/online_library_catalogues3792.cfm

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Chapter 9 UK-Wide Legal Information Sources which exclude Scots Law

9.3 Following the interface changes in LexisNexis Butterworths you now require to choose the legislation tab from the Start Page. This opens up the legislation search form. Select UK Parliament Acts from the Sources drop-down list. Select the Act box.

9.4 Following the interface changes in LexisNexis Butterworths you now require to choose the legislation tab from the Start Page. This opens up the legislation search form. Select UK Parliament SIs from the Sources drop-down list. Select the SI box.

9.19 The Law Reports Index (the "Red Indexes") is now contained in six bound volumes: 1951-1960, 1961-1970, 1971-1980, 1981-1990, 1991-2000, 2001-2005 with a paperback volume covering 2006-2007.

9.33 A new (5th) edition of Halsbury's Laws of England has been launched. It will extend to 102 volumes which is a considerable increase on the existing 4th edition. It will include new volumes on Rights and Freedoms, Matrimonial and Civil Partnerships, Sports Law, Sentence and Sentencing, Information Technology, Consumer Protection, Immigration and Asylum, Environment and Public Health, and Licensing and Gambling.

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Chapter 10 EC Law

10.14 Eur-lex now has an advanced search option. This was developed for information professionals and there is a 23 page user guide available. A single search screen allows you to browse search fields, view indexed headings and enter queries. You can also save custom search and display profiles.

10.17 The latest editions are: N. Foster, Blackstone's EU Treaties & Legislation 2008-2009 19th edn (Oxford: OUP, 2008) and B. Rudden and D. Wyatt, Basic Community Laws 9th edn (Oxford: OUP, 2004).

10.18 An advanced search option is now available see para 10.14 above.

10.32 The web address for N-Lex is now http://eur-lex.europa.eu/n-lex/pays.html?lang=en or it can be accessed via a link from the Eur-lex homepage. N-Lex is still an experimental project.

EU Tracker/ online subscription is a new service provided by LexisNexis Butterworths. It allows you to track the implementation status of EU Directives across Member States using a traffic lights system (red means no steps have been taken to implementation, amber means that implementation is in progress and green means that the Directive has been implemented). It provides links to relevant national legislation in the country's native language and provides details of the dates of national implementation.

10.44 An advanced search option is now available see para 10.14 above.

10.48 Caselex online subscription
Caselex is a case law service which provides information in the following areas: company law, competition law, consumer protection law, employment and health & safety law, environmental law, freedom of movement law, ICT and media law, intellectual property law, public procurement law and social security law. The jurisdictions covered are all EU Member States and EFTA countries. The courts covered are European Court of Justice, EFTA Court of Justice and the national supreme courts of the various countries. National cases are covered from 2000.

10.59 The increased availability of email alerts and RSS feeds means that it is easier to keep up with the latest legal developments. The Europa Press Room provides a useful list of mailing lists and RSS feeds at http://europa.eu/press_room/mailing-rss/index_en.htm.

10.60 The latest edition is P. Craig and G. De Burca, EU Law: Text, Cases & Materials 4th edn (Oxford: OUP, 2007).

10.70 SCADPLUS is now available at http://europa.eu/scadplus/scad_en.htm.

10.81 Internet for European Studies "teach yourself" tutorial is now at http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/eurostudies.

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Chapter 11 International Law

11.7 The United Nations Treaty Collection (http://untreaty.un.org/English/access.asp) is now free. It also provides access to a greater amount of material and now includes: the United Nations Treaty Series; the League of Nations Treaty Series; information about the status of 522 multilateral treaties and a link to the full text; and recently deposited multilateral treaties which have not yet been published in the United Nations Treaty Series. However, the homepage (http://untreaty.un.org/) currently contains a warning notice from the Treaty Section, Office of Legal Affairs stating that the site will not be updated from 15 November 2007 "temporarily, for technical reasons". The reason is that they are intending to launch a new site in the near future.

11.7 Collections of Treaties
4. The Frequently-Cited Treaties and Other International Instruments site run by the University of Minnesota can now be accessed at: http://local.law.umn.edu/library/pathfinders/most-cited.html.

5. The most recent edition is now Blackstone's International Law Documents 8th edn (Oxford: OUP, 2007).

11.10 The current Foreign & Commonwealth Office site (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/publications/publications/) now provides access to the following information: annual reports; Foreign & Commonwealth Office responses to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee; public consultations; research papers; a collection of articles commissioned by the FCO to investigate the concept of public diplomacy in a globalised world; and information about and access to some of the FCO library collections. Access to treaty command papers (by date or subject) and explanatory memorandum from 1997 onwards is available at http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/publications/treaty-command-papers-ems/ Information about other papers held by the FCO is available at http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/publications/historians1/.

11.12 All cases brought before the court since 1946 are now available at: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3.

11.16 The Legal Tools section of the International Criminal Court (http://www.icc-cpi.int/legal_tools.html) website has been expanded and now includes over 25,000 documents and legal commentaries. It includes: ICC founding documents; basic OTP documents; ICC preparatory works, international legal instruments; information about international criminal jurisdictions and judgments going back to the international military tribunals in Nuremberg and Tokyo, information about national jurisdictions, implementing legislation and national cases involving core international crimes.

11.19 The most recent edition is M. Dixon, Textbook on International Law 6th edn (Oxford: OUP, 2007)

11.28 The Foreign & Commonwealth Office website latest news section is now at http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/latest-news/.

11.28A A number of blogs are now available which provide information about international legal developments. These include:

Opinio Juris (http://www.opiniojuris.org/) describes itself as "a forum for informed discussion and lively debate about international law and international relations". The team behind it are academics from US and New Zealand universities and it contains an impressive array of information.

International Law Prof Blog (http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/international_law/) is a blog run by US academics.

International Law Reporter (http://ilreports.blogspot.com/) is also run by a US academic and contains information about forthcoming books and international law journals (including tables of contents).

11.29 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Official Documents site has now been archived. There is a lot of useful information now available at http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/publications/treaties/ including links to: information on UK treaty practice and procedure; UK overseas territories; 36 multilateral treaties; international organisations and secretariats; states' websites with treaty information; texts of treaties involving the UK listed by subject grouping; and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

11.29A Audiovisual Library of International Law online free (http://www.un.org/law/AVLpilotproject/intro.html) is currently a pilot project which is to be launched in October 2008. This impressive project consists of three components: historic archives which contain film footage, audio recordings and photos relating to select historical developments in international law within the framework or under the auspices of the United Nations (this currently includes video footage of the UN adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948); a lectures series by internationally recognised experts in international law (there is currently one lecture available); and a research library which will contain links to primary and secondary sources of international law. The information currently available suggests that this will be an exciting new resource for students of international law.

11.32 The European Convention of Human Rights is now available at:
The Council of Europe site: http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=005&CM=8&DF=7/24/2008&CL=ENG
and The European Court of Human Rights website: http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Basic+Texts/Basic+Texts/The+European+Convention+on+Human+Rights+and+its+Protocols/

11.40 The relevant section of the Ministry of Justice site is now: http://www.justice.gov.uk/whatwedo/humanrights.htm.

For recent cases from the European Court of Human Rights go to Hudoc (http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Case-Law/HUDOC/HUDOC+database) and click on list of recent decisions or list of recent judgments.

11.41 A new international human rights gateway is GlobaLex International Human Rights Research Guide: http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Human_Rights1.htm. It is produced by Grace M. Mills who is the Director of the Law Library at Hamline University.

University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
(http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/index.html) This library contains a large number of core human rights documents and has a section of 4,000 links to other sites organised by type of document, organisation, region and topic.

Hurisearch (http://www.hurisearch.org/) is a human rights search engine which searches over 4,500 human rights websites.

11.42 Justice Student Human Rights Network
(http://www.justice.org.uk/jshrn/home.htm) has been set up by Justice which is an independent, UK based charity. The network has the goal of supporting all those studying the law and who are interested in human rights by creating a lively, interactive network. It produces an e-bulletin which includes information on recent developments and cases.

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