LibGuides: Human Rights: UK legal materials

On this page you will find databases for finding UK legislation and cases.

You will also find policy documents from the Houses of Parliament including public bills, Command Papers, parliamentary papers, and parliamentary debates.

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UK legislation and cases

The databases listed give you access to case reports, Acts of Parliament, and Statutory Instruments.

For case, you can search by neutral citation, e.g. [2009] UKSC 1. Use the 'Citation' search box in the Cases area of the database. You can also search Westlaw and Lexis for proprietary citations - citations which are linked to a specific report, e.g. [2008] 1 AC 1.

You can also search by the names of the parties, e.g. OBG Ltd v Allan. Use the 'Party names' box in the Cases area of the database.

Use the name / title box in the Legislation area to find Acts and SIs. When searching for an Act it is important to specify the year, as there may be several Acts with the same name.

Westlaw UK
Westlaw is an international database of full text primary resources, including UK and EU legislation and case law as well as selected books and full text journals.
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Search Tip: On the homepage, you can browse resources based on the topic. Select “Equality and human rights” for a range of curated resources.

Quick Guide to Westlaw
A quick guide to searching Westlaw
FAQ on Westlaw
Some Frequently Asked Questions on using Westlaw

Lexis Plus
Lexis Plus (previously Lexis Library) contains a wide range of databases of full text legal resources, including statutes, statutory instruments, and cases. It provides extensive coverage of English, U.S., Commonwealth and European Union primary and secondary materials. Additionally, it provides access to journals and e-books.
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Search Tip: Once you have entered your search term, you can filter results through “Practice Areas & Topics” and select “Human rights and civil liberties”.
British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII)
Primary legal materials for the UK, the Republic of Ireland and the European Union. Access to case law and primary and secondary legislation. Substantial case coverage begins with 1996, although there is pre 1996 material available; statutes go back to 1215.
UK Legislation
Comprehensive full text database of UK legislation from 1267 to the present. Managed by the National Archives.
Take care to check the entries, as not all have been updated.

Policy documents

These databases and websites give you access to Government and Parliamentary documents.

You can search for particular documents (Green paper or Bill), topics (health care), and people (a particular MP).

Public Bills before Parliament This link opens in a new window
This page provides links to the complete text of bills currently before Parliament listed in alphabetical order by title.
Details of the bill and debates connected to it are provided. When a bill is passed it becomes an Act, the text of which can then be found via the OPSI website.
House of Commons sessional papers (Command papers) This link opens in a new window
Provides the full text of selected Command Papers from 2004 - present.
Command Papers are presented to Parliament by a Government Minister, and can include green and white papers, treaties, responses to Select Committee reports, reports of Committees of Inquiry, and some departmental reports. Older papers can be found on the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers site.
UK Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
This database provides full-text access to: Bills and Acts 1695-2005, Command Papers 1833-2005, House of Commons Papers 1715-2005, House of Lords papers 1714-1805, Hansard 1803-2005, Journals 1688-1834, Debates 1774-1805 and Histories and proceedings 1660-1743.
Parliamentary debates: House of Commons (Hansard) This link opens in a new window
HANSARD is a full-text database of the official report of the House of Commons. It contains Debates and Oral and Written Answers to Questions. Coverage is from the beginning of the 1988/89 parliamentary to the present.
A detailed search engine is included; you can search by date, MP or subject.The site also provides access to the debates of House of Commons Standing Committees. To access the House of Commons debates from the UK Parliament home page, click on the 'Parliamentary business' link at the top of the screen, then on the 'Publications and records' tab.
Parliamentary debates: House of Lords (Hansard) This link opens in a new window
HANSARD is a full-text database of the official report of the House of Lords - this is an edited account of debates.
Coverage is from Session 1994-95 to the present. There is a set of search categories: by date, by member and by subject. There are also volume indexes available from January 2001. To access the House of Lords debates from the UK Parliament home page, click on the 'Parliamentary business' link at the top of the screen, then on the 'Publications' tab.