BAILII – the British and Irish Legal Information Institute – is a charitable organisation based at IALS that supports access to justice by publishing the most comprehensive set of free British and Irish legal materials available on the internet without cookies or passwords. BAILII is a one-stop source for case law, legislation, law commission reports, case papers of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, treaties, UK judiciary speeches, and open access books and journals. In addition to hosting BAILII, IALS is represented on its Board of Trustees and contributes to the management, administration, and promotion of BAILII's services.
Since it was formed in 2000, BAILII's core mission has been to expand access to justice by publishing searchable databases of legal materials from the United Kingdom, England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Europe and other jurisdictions. One advantage of BAILII is that its judgments include hyperlinks if cited cases are found in its extensive collections, and everything on TNA's Find Case Law service is also available under licence on BAILII.
BAILII OpenLaw supports legal education by recruiting experts to assemble and add case summaries to lists of significant judgments organised by subject.
BAILII's social media feeds and lists of Recent Decisions, New Cases of Interest, Recent Additions, and Most-Requested Cases help people stay up-to-date on case law. BAILII is also a member of the WorldLII, CommonLII, and LawCite.
Contact details: Ann M. Hale, BAILII's Executive Director, can be reached at feedback@bailii.org or via the Feedback form on BAILII.
BAILII Lecture series
Sir Henry Brooke Annual Lecture 2018
On Thursday 7th June 2018 the Annual BAILII Lecture was given by Rt Hon Lord Burnett of Maldon, The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales on the topic of: The Age of Reform. The lecture took place in the auditorium of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: 65 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1HS.
The Fourth BAILII Lecture 2016
On Wednesday 9th March 2016 the Annual BAILII Lecture will be given by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales on the topic of: Developing Commercial Law Through the Courts. The lecture took place in the auditorium of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: 65 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1HS.
Full text of lecture (PDF)
The Third BAILII Lecture 2014
On Thursday 27th November 2014 the Third BAILII Lecture was given by Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls, on the topic of: Criticism of judges: fair game or off-limits? The lecture took place in the auditorium of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: 65 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1HS.
Full text of lecture (PDF)
The Second BAILII Lecture 2013
On 9th December 2013 the Second BAILII Lecture was given by Professor Alan Paterson OBE on Decision-making in the UK's top court. The lecture was hosted by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: 65 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1HS.
The First BAILII Lecture 2012
No judgment, no justice. The First Annual BAILII Lecture, hosted by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, was given on 20th November 2012 by Lord Neuberger, the President of the Supreme Court.