Key resources in the Law Collection
English legal encyclopaedias
- Halsbury's Laws Of England (electronic resource)
Regularly updated on Lexis Nexis, previously held in a 70 volume set this publication offers a comprehensive coverage of English law (statutory and common law). Referred to as Commentary on this database. The old volumes are still available with their indexes but it is recommended that you check Lexis Nexis for any updates (you may ask staff for assistance on this). - Halsbury’s Statutes of England and Wales (electronic resource)
Regularly updated on Lexis Nexis, and previously 50 volumes this gives the amended text of every public general act still in force, as well as notes and references. As with Halsbury's laws the printed volumes are still available although out-of-date. - Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (electronic resource)
Regularly updated on Lexis Nexis, and previously in 70 volumes containing precedents covering all aspects of non-contentious / non – litigious law. Find complete precedents, alternative clauses and official forms, model letters, commentaries on the law, practical checklists, procedural tables and more. You may still use the old volumes and indexes if you prefer and then check whether what you have found is up-to-date using Lexis Nexis.
UK preparatory legislation & other UK official publications
A selection of Law Commission publications, Green and White Papers, public bills, parliamentary debates (ie: Hansard - including standing committees), statutory codes of practice and more, are all available at this library.
UK legislation
Still being added to, a systematic collection of unamended texts (as at Royal Assent) are available for all Public General Acts / statutes (from 1837), local acts (from 1922) and Statutory Instruments (from 1949). Snapshots of the statute book and statutory instruments at various points in the past provide the text of much legislation back to 1237. These are mostly the original texts of statutes, for the up-to-date versions please check either Lexis Nexis or the Statute Law Database.
Case law: Law Reports and case summaries
- All England Law Reports (1558 - date)
- The Law Reports (1953 - date) and Law Reports Digests (1865-1950)
- Weekly Law Reports (1953 - date)
Permanent files of key general law report series are available (see above), and a number of specialised reports. In addition, case summaries are available from the Current Law Yearbooks and Monthly Digest (1947 to date), digests of European Court of Human Rights between 1960 and 2000, and in selected legal journals.
Many law reports are kept on Lexis Nexis in full text and are fully searchable.
Journals, periodicals and current awareness sources
- Files of half a dozen legal journals are available. You can find details using the subject search in our Periodicals catalogue.
- "Current Law Monthly Digests" and "Yearbooks" covering 1947 - date. Arranged by subject, these invaluable resources highlight and index new and amending legislation (including implementation of European Union law), and summarise significant court judgements made during the month or year covered, as well as indicating new books and articles on each subject area. Further, critical components of this work are case citators, revealing whether, and if so, where, a particular case was reported in full, legislation citators showing whether a particular section of legislation has been amended or considered in a court judgement during the month or year covered, and alphabetical tables of Statutory Instruments providing serial number information for locating the particular text.
- Lexis Nexis also provides a current awareness search.
Legal text books
A wide range of books providing commentary on the law and legal system is provided both in Marylebone Information Service and Westminster Reference Library. The current emphasis for this part of the collection is to focus on accessible books rather than on specialised practitioner texts. If you are unable to find a particular book, or if the area of law you are interested in is not covered in sufficient detail by the encyclopaedias listed above, please check these links for library catalogues of other London libraries and referral procedures - or contact our staff at the library for assistance or to make suggestions.
Other key reference sources
- "Civil Procedure – The White Book service"
- Words and phrases legally defined, & Stroud's Judicial Dictionary
- History of English Law (17 volume work by William Holdsworth)
- Directories of Courts and the Legal Profession
Key international sources
- Treaties, indexes & ratification lists
- Encyclopaedia of United Nations & International Agreements
- ECHR Case Summaries and case finders
- European Union Collection
