Website reviews

www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199697/ldjudgmt/ldjudgmt.htm

Unfortunately, this indigestible and extremely unfriendly address is that of the highest court in the land. Their Lordships were very quick off the starting blocks in the late part of 1996 in posting all their judgments on the web. They still do. But not much has changed since then in the way that it is done, as the address might suggest.  While it is very useful to have all judgments posted on the web within a short time of being given (they are highlighted on what could be called the home page) much more could be done to make their lordships’ decisions more accessible. A search engine, even a simple one, would be a start. The only one provided is one for the entire House of Lords site. Even some alternative means of organising the list of cases, for example by party or judge would be a help.  For an alternative, and much more useable attempt in this field, see the Privy Council site at www.privy-council.org.uk/output/Page31.asp

Usefulness 3/5  

site design 1/5   

updating frequency 4/5

http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/hudoc/default.asp?Language=en&Advanced=1

This unfriendly address takes you straight through to the search engine for the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. (As an alternative, you can ignore everything after the term “hudoc” to get through to the home page, and then take the link from  there). The database of this court is huge. The search engine is pretty sophisticated coming in two strengths.  You can search by name of the parties (termed “title” in the search engine), by the Article of the Convention (try Art 6 and see…) among others. Due to the volume of information, it can sometimes be difficult to find what you need immediately, but it is in there somewhere: though occasionally, you will need to be a Francophone.

Usefulness 4/5  

site design 3/5

updating frequency 4/5

www.lawreports.co.uk

This is the site of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. Very useful it can be too, not least the Daily Law Notes which contain neat and well written headnotes of selected cases from the High Court upwards. The headnotes are written up and posted on the website within 24 hours of being handed down. There is also a searchable archive. It is not a comprehensive account of all that moves in those courts but very useful as a way of keeping up with the latest developments and very useful to obtain short summaries of the salient points in the cases covered. The Industrial Case Reports Express does for employment law cases what the Daily Notes does for more general civil business.

Usefulness 4/5  

site design 3/5  

updating frequency 4/5

www.pensionsappealtribunals.gov.uk

This new website was launched at the end of March 2003. The Pensions Appeal Tribunals hear appeals from ex-servicemen or women who have had their claims for a War Pension rejected by the Secretary of State for Social Services. The Tribunals’ jurisdiction covers England & Wales only. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own tribunals. As might be expected with a very new site, there are teething problems including the provision of online tribunal decisions. We are told that the site will eventually have a searchable database of decisions but in the meantime, only selected decisions are available. It is to be hoped that the database will be assembled sooner rather than later. Elsewhere on the site is a miscellany of information, some more useful than others (did you know that Admiral Sir Wilmot Fawkes,G.C.B.,K.C.V.O.,C.B sat on the first Pensions Tribunal in 1917 ?). The daily lists are published as well as an up-to-date set of the rules of procedure. One hopes that the Pensions Appeals Tribunals in Scotland will follow suit soon.

Usefulness 2/5  

site design 2/5  

updating frequency (unknown)