Part 1: General Introduction
- Inter-Parliamentary Union. A source of Information on national parliaments across the world. Includes a database of bibliographic references: https://www.ipu.org/
- The British and Irish Legal Information Institute. This site provides access to the most comprehensive set of British and Irish primary legal materials that are available for free and in one place on the internet: http://www.bailii.org/
- UK Parliament. The official UK parliamentary website featuring the daily work of both houses, House of Commons and House of Lords. Parliamentary debates are available daily, featuring the decision-making process on big issues of the day, such as Prime Minister’s Questions Time (PMQs) and current bills before the Westminster Parliament: https://www.parliament.uk
- Constitutional Law research site from University of Chicago. A US site but an invaluable guide to researching Constitutional Law on the Internet containing material from all over the world: http://www2.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/conlaw.html
Part 2: Fundamental Constitutional Concepts
- The United Nations and the rule of law: https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/
- The UK Constitution Society regularly publishes papers by leading experts on a wide range of constitutional topics. They organise occasional conferences and seminars on issues of current constitutional importance, attended by leading experts from the civil service, academia and the legal profession as well as senior politicians: https://consoc.org.uk/the-constitution-explained/the-uk-constitution/
- Constitutional Law Association publishes weekly academic and scholarly papers and blogs by highly regarded academics: https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/
- The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (The Bigham Centre). Events and fellowships: https://www.biicl.org/index
- The World Justice Project deals with the rule of law in global projects: https://worldjusticeproject.org/
Part 3: The European Union
- The official site of the European Union. History, featured news, learning resources, principles and the main institutions: https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en
- The official site of the European Parliament. Learn about the European Parliament, including topics, latest news, videos and live streamings, legislative tools, and relevant social media: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en
- European Commission. The EU executive, the office of the president, policies and law-making: https://commission.europa.eu/index_en
- The Council of the European Union. The Council of the EU is where national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies. The Council of the EU takes decisions on European laws jointly with the European Parliament: https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institutions-and-bodies/search-all-eu-institutions-and-bodies/council-european-union_en
- The European Court of Justice (Luxembourg) also known as the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). All about the EU judiciary and all statistical facts: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo2_7024/
Part 4: Central, Regional and Local Government
- The Government of Wales – The Welsh Assembly: https://www.gov.wales/
- The Scottish Parliament: https://www.parliament.scot
- The Northern Ireland Assembly: www.niassembly.gov.uk
- The official UK government website for citizens: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm
- The Cabinet Office is at the centre of government, making government work better. This website brings together information from ministerial offices (the Executive): www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
- The official web site of the Prime Minister and a source for all the latest news and releases from Downing Street: http://www.number10.gov.uk/
- Useful information about local government services: https://www.gov.uk/topic/local-government
Part 5: Parliament
- The home page for the United Kingdom Parliament: https://www.parliament.uk
- A list of all Bills currently before Parliament (and from 2006/07 onwards), with explanatory notes and amendments: https://bills.parliament.uk
- The Electoral Commission is the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance in the UK. A source of further information about the electoral process within the UK and electronic voter registration: www.electoralcommission.org.uk
Part 6: The Individual and the State
- The Legal Action Group – a national, independent charity which campaigns for equal access to justice for all members of society: http://www.lag.org.uk/
- The Information Commissioner’s Office – the UK’s independent authority set up to promote access to official information and to protect personal information: https://ico.org.uk/
- Council of Europe: https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/home
- Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights: https://www.echr.coe.int/home
- The Information Commissioner’s Office – the UK’s independent authority set up to promote access to official information and to “empower you through information”: https://ico.org.uk/
- Council of Europea anti-torture Commission conducts prison and police cell inspections in the 47 member states and The CPT visits places of detention and assesses how persons deprived of their liberty are treated in order to strengthen their protection from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt
- The International Labour Organisation ILO) is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognised human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that social justice is essential to universal and lasting peace. The only tripartite U.N. agency, since 1919 the ILO brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 Member States, to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men: https://www.ilo.org/
- Equality and Human Rights Commission, an independent statutory body with the responsibility to encourage equality and diversity, eliminate unlawful discrimination, and protect and promote the human rights of everyone in Britain: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
Part 7: Judges and the Legal System
- The Law Commission. Find out what the Law Commission is and what it does. You can access text of all recent reports and consultation papers, plus see summaries of current official law reform projects: http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/
- Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Provides an insight into the working lives of the nearly 42,000 judicial office holders in England and Wales – judges, tribunal members and magistrates: https://www.judiciary.uk/
- Official website of the UK Ministry of Justice, providing information about courts, tribunals, prisons, probation and procedural rules: http://www.justice.gov.uk/
- Judiciary of Northern Ireland: https://www.judiciaryni.uk/
- Judiciary of Scotland: https://judiciary.scot/
- The UK Supreme Court: https://www.supremecourt.uk
- Official judiciary website to provide a search engine for all judgments: https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/
- The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) selects candidates for judicial office in England and Wales, and for some tribunals with UK-wide powers: https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/
- The Bar Standards Board. Regulates barristers and specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales in the public interest: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/
- Faculty of Scottish Advocates. Provides information and assistance to barristers and advocates in Scotland: https://www.advocates.org.uk/about-advocates/life-at-the-scottish-bar
- Law Society of England and Wales. The independent body for solicitors in England/ Wales: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en
- Solicitors Regulation Authority. Provides a full solicitors’ register (England/ Wales) and information about the Solicitor Qualifying Examination (SQE): https://www.sra.org.uk/
- The Government Legal Department: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-legal-department/about/recruitment
Part 8: Introduction to Administrative Law
- Ombudsman Association. This site provides a list of ombudsman schemes: https://www.ombudsmanassociation.org/
- Run by the Parliamentary Health Service, this site provides information about ombudsmen as well as advice about what to do to make a complaint: https://www.olso.org/
- HM Courts and Tribunal Services – including the administrative courts and judicial review: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service
- Filing a claim for judicial review (Form n461): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n461-judicial-review-claim-form-administrative-court
- Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Independently investigates complaints about UK government departments, other public organisations and the NHS in England. The service is free, fair and open to everyone: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/
- Northern Ireland Public Ombudsman Service. A free service which investigates complaints about public services in Norther Ireland: https://www.nipso.org.uk/
- Scottish public service ombudsman. The free of charge Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the final stage for complaints about most public services in Scotland: https://www.spso.org.uk/spso
- Find an inquiry – UK Government: https://committees.parliament.uk/inquiries/?showadvanced=true¤tlyacceptingevidence=true
- Statutory Public Inquiries – House of Commons Library: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06410/
- Public inquiries – Institute of Government: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/public-inquiries