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BAILII gets MoJ lifeline / Has bargain BAILII had its day?

shawn mach
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Couple of articles in the Law Society Gazette this week on the BAILII website:

The most widely used free public online database of court judgments has been handed a one-year lifeline.

The 20-year-old British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) told the Gazette that its five-year contract with the Ministry of Justice, which was due to expire next year, has been renewed for one year.

More: BAILII gets MoJ lifeline

Among the all-singing, all-dancing websites cluttering our web browsers with cookies, the British and Irish Legal Information Institute site stands out. Its text-only design has no fancy animations or sound effects. Its typographic design is… basic. No one asks users to sign in or prove that they are not robots. Remarkably for a service dependant on voluntary donations, no windows flash up begging for money.

The retro look of the site, now 20 years old, would be laughable but for one detail: it works. With a database of 411,000 searchable cases and 150,000 legislation items, BAILII is an essential port of call for anyone needing free online access to the state of the law.

More: Has bargain BAILII had its day?

 

shawn mach
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From the Law Society Gazette today:

Plans to create the first single comprehensive repository of England and Wales court judgments are being considered by the government, the Gazette understands. Such a service, run by the National Archives, would publish almost every decision made by courts and tribunals, unlike the current selective system run by the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) ...

The prospect of statutory comprehensive judgments data was cautiously welcomed by technology experts and researchers. However, it will face opposition from senior judges, who are understood to be concerned about the loss of control over judgments. The move, which would require primary legislation along the lines of the 1958 Public Records Act, would also threaten the future of BAILII, which receives one quarter of its £200,000 annual budget from the Ministry of Justice.

More: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/government-considers-plans-to-create-national-hub-for-court-judgments/5108426.article

shawn mach
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Update:

Boost for open justice as court judgments get new home

Important court and tribunal judgments will be available via The National Archives for the first time, increasing transparency and securing free access for all.

The website will host thousands of court judgments, saving time and money for lawyers, judges, academics, journalists, students and members of the public who require them for vital case preparation or research purposes.

At present, there are multiple sources for court judgment publications, of which BAILII is the largest. The long-term aim is for all of them to migrate onto The National Archives website which has a track record in hosting digital files safely and securely.

More: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-open-justice-as-court-judgments-get-new-home

shawn mach
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More re the MOJ’s announcement from Paul Magrath of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting:

Plan for publication of judgments by The National Archives: what will become of BAILII?

shawn mach
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Official judgment portal set to go live

Nearly 50,000 court judgments have been set up to be posted online in the first phase of the government’s plan to create a cutting-edge free repository of legal information, the Gazette can reveal. The service, hosted by the National Archives, will go live next April when the Ministry of Justice’s contract with the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) expires.

More: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/official-judgment-portal-set-to-go-live/5110741.article

shawn mach
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The new case law service on the National Archives website is launching on Friday:

https://twitter.com/CrimeLineLaw/status/1513453033321123845
https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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shawn mach - 12 April 2022 09:24 AM

The new case law service on the National Archives website is launching on Friday:

https://twitter.com/CrimeLineLaw/status/1513453033321123845
https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

That second link doesn’t work for me - it’s asking me to log in. Is this just the Age UK security being a PITA or anyone else get the same thing?

HB Anorak
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Same for me.  Didn’t recognise a gov.uk login I use for other services either

Elliot Kent
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Apparently the service doesn’t go live until this Friday and therefore isn’t yet accessible. Presumably the login is only there to allow technical staff in.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Thanks chaps, you never know what’s happening with our IT.

Elliot Kent
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Seems that they did put it up over the easter weekend as indicated (slightly odd timing perhaps).

Here is a link to the Carmichael & Rutherford case for an example: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/uksc/2016/58

They do not seem to have uploaded anything from the UT (AAC) as yet.

Daphne
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shawn mach
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From the Law Society Gazette:

Important gaps remain in the government’s official repository of court judgments more than a year after its launch, research has revealed. According to the study by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting in England and Wales (ICLR), about 20% of the judgments that might be expected to be on the National Archives’ Find Case Law database are missing.

More: One fifth of judgments missing from national database

ICLR’s report is available from: https://www.iclr.co.uk/blog/news-and-events/publication-of-listed-judgments-towards-a-new-benchmark-of-digital-open-justice-final-report/