Links to some useful sites dealing with the law
Last modified: 24 July 2007
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Links to some useful sites dealing with the law Last modified: 24 July 2007 |
Check out some of these links to legal sites that may be of interest. We have categorized them so that it should be easier for you to find what you need. Click on the category to take you there. If you experience any difficulties with these links, have any comments on any of the sites or have others that you think should be added than please e-mail us.
Accidents
& Injuries
www.caniclaim.com -
Now we have to admit to being a little biased here as Can I Claim?
is our own sister site devoted entirely to helping those who have been
injured in an accident, or who may be the victims of medical incompetence.
Its packed with useful information about what you can and cannot claim for and
the process itself, plus a very simple online form to find out if
its worth pursuing your claim (75% of people never even bother to find
out). Our panels of specialist personal injury and medical
negligence solicitors will advise you free of charge and without any obligation
on your part. No hard sell, no insurance or bank loan from us required.
www.medicalclaims.co.uk - A new website with free information for those who have suffered injury as a result of a medical accident. The site is run by Medical Litigation - a monthly medico-legal journal, which has its own site at www.medneg.com (this is more for the lawyers amongst you)
Case
Law & Statutes
www.bailii.org - This site is the first attempt to try and put "the law" ie
cases and statute, on the internet for free. It follows, and uses, an
Australian system, and currently has cases in England & Wales in the
Court of Appeal and High Court from 1996 onwards and UK legislation from
1996 onwards. A developing legal resource site.
www.hmso.gov.uk/acts.htm - The Government's official website which now gives the full text of all Acts passed since 1988.
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/hract
Well we couldn't let the passing of the Human Rights Act pass without a
link to the Government's official site telling us how we can now
complain that they are not doing their job properly.
Charities
www.charity-commission.gov.uk
- Not exactly a legal site, but with more than 180,000 registered charities it
can be difficult finding the right one if you are trying to set up a gift in
your Will for instance. Get the name wrong and the gift will fail. You'll find
all the information you need on this site.
Consumer
Issues
www.adviceguide.org.uk -
This is the rather strangely named site of the Citizens Advice Bureau,
but once you have found it the information is excellent. The emphasis,
of course, is on consumer issues and they provide some very good basic
info in this area.
www.covlaw.org.uk - A great site offering some good advice leaflets on housing, immigration, employment and welfare benefits.
www.howtocomplain.com - It does exactly what it says on the tin! This site guides you through the law, and the complaints procedure, and even allows you to complain online to some of the more enlightened and customer-orientated companies. And if you are just having a bad hair day then you can rant online about that too.
www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/onlineservices/mcol/index.htm
- Money Claim Online is the Court Service's pilot project allowing you to
issue court proceedings for any monetary claim of up to £100,000. Conditions
include -
- your claim must be for a fixed amount of money and less than £100,000;
- your claim is against no more than two people;
- the address of the person(s) you are suing is within England and Wales;
- you have a valid credit or debit card.
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk - Government regulation and
enforcement measures to protect the consumer.
Court
Procedures
www.hm-courtservice.gov.uk -
This is the revamped Court Service website, which is actually well
worth a look. You can find Court listings, judgments, court forms, fees
and some useful leaflets, such as those on the divorce procedure.
www.employmentcomplaints.com - Provides some useful information about proceedings in the Employment Tribunal
Data
Protection
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
- This is the new name for the old site of the Data Protection Registrar, so if you want to know
what your new rights are in respect of information held about you under the new
Data Protection Act, then this is the place to go.
Disabilities
www.disability.gov.uk
This Government site is a bit dry and uninspiring, but there is some
useful information for those who are disabled, or who work for and with
the disabled. The site has sections on the New Deal for Disabled People,
the Disability Rights Taskforce and the Disability Discrimination Act.
Employment
& Work
www.acas.org.uk - The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service website, who have
just issued a new Code of Practice, which you can download in full from
their site. It should come into effect on 4 September 2000.
www.covlaw.org.uk - A great site offering some good advice leaflets on housing, immigration, employment and welfare benefits.
www.cre.gov.uk - The Commission for Racial Equality's website which should help if you have been discriminated against at work due to your race.
www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk - The Government's extensive guide to the work of Employment Tribunals.
www.emplaw.co.uk - A very comprehensive site if you are looking for information on employment law. Has both a free section for individuals and a "subscriber" section for "practitioners". Might be a little complex for some, but you can't say there's not enough info.
www.eocorg.uk - The Equal Opportunities Commission who assist with matters relating to sexual discrimination.
www.harassment-law.co.uk - A site created by barrister Neil Addison & solicitor Timothy Lawson-Cruttenden which covers any type of harassment situation - racial, sexual, stalking, bullying or problem neighbours.
www.hse.gov.uk - The Health & Safety Executive website.
www.pcaw.demon.co.uk - PCAW stands for Public Concern at Work, which is the independent charity behind the Public Interest Disclosure Act. They provide free and confidential legal advice to people concerned about wrongdoing at work - so called whistleblowers, who are now protected by the law.
www.worksmart.org.uk - The TUC's online guide to help working people get the best out of their work
Families
& Divorce
www.divorce.co.uk
- An excellent site, which although created by lawyers (Mills & Reeve in
East Anglia) takes a practical and positive look at all aspects of divorce. They
have enlisted the help of a psychologist and a psychotherapist, so that site has
not only a legal content, but also a mediation and a counselling content.
www.csa.gov.uk - This is the official site of the Child Support Agency, which answers
a lot of the basic questions in their Q&A Section and provides
several brochures and leaflets online.
www.pearlwillis.co.uk - Pearl is a barrister who specialises in Family and Criminal law, but her site is packed with a wide array of info on these and other topics.
www.sharingpensions.co.uk - This is a free information website focused on the division of pension rights resulting from UK divorce. It is an independent financial advisers (IFA) view, providing solutions to family lawyers, their clients, and individuals involved in marriage breakdown and divorce, amongst others.
Fun
www.ca-probate.com/wills.htm - Check out who wrote what in their
wills.
www.dumblaws.com - An American site showing that they really do know how to make up some mad rules!
HUMAN
RIGHTS
www.yourrights.org.uk -
the only site you will need to look if you want to know what your rights are -
from freedom to protest to protection of property, the rights of children to the
rights of suspects in custody. A great site.
Immigration
www.covlaw.org.uk - A great site
offering some good advice leaflets on housing, immigration, employment and
welfare benefits.
www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk - A guide to the complex UK laws of immigration and nationality.
Landlord
& Tenant
www.landlordlaw.co.uk -
Solicitor Tessa Shepperson's site for landlords and tenants alike, with free
information and documents and a subscription service.
www.landlordZONE.co.uk
- A growing information site/portal for landlords, tenants and letting agents.
www.possessionclaim.gov.uk/pcol/ - Now you can issue possession proceedings
against you tenant online, if they have failed to comply with the terms of their
tenancy agreement.
Legal
Institutions, Bodies & Publications
www.barcouncil.org.uk - The Bar Council are the body that
regulate all the barristers in the UK. Some general information
about what they do and what barristers do too.
www.lawsociety.org.uk - The Law Society are the body who regulate all the solicitors in the UK. A good general information site. The Law Society also produce a weekly magazine - The Gazette. You can catch the online version at www.lawgazette.co.uk.
Legal
Link Sites
www.infolaw.co.uk - Another site more for the
practitioner from Nick Holmes MD of Information for Lawyers Ltd and author of
"Researching the Legal Web". The site contains comprehensive
directoties, legal resources and a High Street page advertising goods and
services to the legal sector.
www.clsdirect.org.uk/index.jsp - This is the website of the Community Legal Service, which has replaced the Legal Aid Board. You can use it to find local providers who are registered to provide legal help and assistance under the scheme.
www.the-lawyer.co.uk - The online version of a the weekly legal newspaper.
www.venables.co.uk - With the plethora of junk legal sites out there, Delia Venables' site still leads the way if you are trying to research the law.
www.welcome.to/barrister - Here is a useful link to some information on the law in Ireland, which we are unable to cover here on LotW. Its the site of Dublin-based barrister Kieron Wood.
Mediation
Services
www.consensus.uk.com -
Commercial mediation over the internet via Consensus Mediation's new
e-Mediator service. If both parties agree to the process this could be a
quick and cheap way to resolve those annoying little disputes, which
tend to escalate out of all proportion to their "real" value.
Neighbour
Disputes
www.boundary-problems.co.uk -
This is an excellent site put together by Chartered Surveyor Jon Maynard, which
covers all aspects of boundary disputes and how to resolve them, preferably
without getting lawyers involved!
www.gardenlaw.co.uk - Another clear and informative site from solicitor Richard Smithies about the potential pitfalls and pleasures of your garden, including just who and what you can bury in your garden - legally.
www.harassment-law.co.uk - A site created by barrister Neil
Addison & solicitor Timothy Lawson-Cruttenden which covers
any type of harassment situation - racial, sexual, stalking,
bullying or problem neighbours.
www.noisedirect.co.uk - Noisedirect;
National Noise Advice Line
is an independent and impartial advice line for anyone who needs assistance with
any type of noise issue. Their team of experienced Environmental Health
Professionals will listen carefully to your noise problem and provide you with
sensible practical and technical advice. They are unbiased and do not represent or promote the
interests of any other organisations, local Councils or other agency. Their
advice is based purely on a sound professional assessment of your case. Examples
of case studies can be viewed on the website.
Ombudsmen/Institutional
Complaint
Bodies
www.abta.co.uk - The
Association of British Travel Agents offer a simple arbitration scheme
with regard to holiday disputes if the travel agent is a member of the
association.
www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk - The Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help if you have a complaint you cannot sort out with your: bank, building society, financial adviser, insurance company, investment firm, stockbroker, unit trust company.
www.funeralombudsman.org.uk - The Funeral Ombudsman Scheme investigates complaints into the service provided by members of the scheme.
www.lgo.org.uk - The Local Government Ombudsmen investigate complaints of injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities and certain other bodies
www.oss.lawsociety.org.uk - The Office for the Supervision of Solicitors was set up by the Law Society of England and Wales to deal with complaints about solicitors and to regulate their work. The Law Society funds their work, but it cannot get involved in individual cases.
www.oea.co.uk - The Ombudsman for Estate Agents gives the opportunity for dissatisfied house buyers and sellers to have access to a free, fair and wholly independent complaints review procedure.
www.ombudsman.org.uk - The Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Health Service Ombudsman undertake independent investigations into complaints about government departments, a range of other public bodies, and the National Health Service.
www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk - The Pensions Ombudsman investigates and decides complaints and disputes about the way that pension schemes are run.
www.ipcc.gov.uk - The Independent Police Complaints Commission is the independent body now overseeing complaints against serving police officers in England and Wales.
Property
- Buying, Selling, & Building
www.ihavemoved.com - Just moved and can't be bothered to
tell everyone. including the gas board and the "leccy"
people, then apparently these people will do it for you for free.
We haven't tried it coz we haven't moved, but let us know if you
do.
www.landreg.gov.uk - If you
are involved in the property market in any way then this is a useful site. The
Land Registry produces a quarterly free report on residential property prices
and sales volumes and you can also get customised reports for regions of the
country and even postcode areas.
www.landregisteronline.gov.uk
- Now you can look up anyone's title online for just £3.
www.voa.gov.uk - where you can check out the rateable value of any property in the UK. All you need is the postcode.
Welfare
Benefits
www.covlaw.org.uk - A great site offering some good advice leaflets on
housing, immigration, employment and welfare benefits.
Wills
& Probate Issues
www.bonavacantia.gov.uk - The Bona
Vacantia Division of the Treasury Solicitor's Department deals with the assets
of dissolved companies, and the estates of people who die intestate
and without known kin.
The website has a facility for relatives of estates cases to search the records and they also have an auction of domain names previously owned by dissolved companies. In addition the site also holds copies of all of the division's guidelines which outline what they do and set out their requirements.
www.ca-probate.com/wills.htm - Check out who wrote what in their wills.
www.guardianship.gov.uk - Deals with the work of what was the Public Trust Office, but is now the Public Guardianship Office, and in particular Enduring Powers of Attorney
www.step.org - The website of the Society for Trust and Estate Practitioners, whose members come from the legal, accountancy, corporate trust, banking, insurance and related professions, and are involved at all levels in the planning, creation and management of, and accounting for, trusts and estates, executorship, administration and related taxes. Of course this means they are also experts in will-writing, probate and EPAs and not just trusts.
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