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BAILII
Hosted in the UK and Ireland by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, and the Law Faculty, University College Cork
What it is
BAILII provides free online access to British and Irish case law, legislation, European case law, and other legal materials. Readers can search by keyword or browse collections by date and A–Z title list. Search options include basic, advanced, multidatabase, citation, date, and Boolean searches, with operators such as AND, OR, and NOT. LawCite can find material using citations, parties, courts, jurisdictions, authors, years, and related cases or legislation.
Its collections include case law, legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports, and other law-related material. The help section explains printing and downloading documents. BAILII says access requires no password and does not place cookies on users’ machines. OpenLaw makes leading judgments and reports available for legal education. The service identifies pro bono groups, neighbourhood law centres, students, legal practitioners, and library teams among its beneficiaries and users. It is web-based and free to access, but has no API and does not permit bulk downloads. Commercial users and educational institutions are asked to make annual donations, with no required amount stated.
For and against
For
- Free access to British, Irish, and European legal materials.
- Offers advanced, citation, date, and Boolean search.
- LawCite supports searches by citation and jurisdiction.
- Documents can be printed and downloaded.
Against
- There is no API.
- Bulk downloading is not permitted.
- Large downloads may result in blocked access.
The verdict
BAILII offers extensive search and browsing options for free access to legal materials. Its lack of an API and restriction on bulk downloading matter for users seeking programmatic or large-scale access.
Who it suits
BAILII is suited to legal practitioners and their library or knowledge management teams, as well as students, educators, pro bono organisations, and neighbourhood law centres. It provides a free browser-based way to search and browse legal materials.
Plans and prices
Free access
Free access to BAILII databases; bulk downloading is not permitted
Read 8 Oct 2026 · bailii.org
On the record
- Access
- BAILII says its databases are free to access and do not require passwords or place cookies on users’ machines.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- API and bulk access
- BAILII says it does not have an API and does not permit bulk downloading of its content.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Audience
- BAILII describes use by legal practitioners and their library or knowledge management teams, and its OpenLaw project also addresses law educators, students and librarians.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Collections
- Its collections include case law, legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports and other law related material.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Copyright
- Users may copy, print and distribute BAILII legal materials free of charge if third party rights and prohibited uses are respected and BAILII is identified as the source.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Coverage
- BAILII’s databases contain British and Irish case law, legislation and other materials, as well as European case law.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Downloads
- Case transcripts can be downloaded as RTF or PDF documents.beta.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Education
- BAILII OpenLaw makes leading judgments and reports freely available to support legal education and the academic community.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Funding
- BAILII asks commercial users and educational institutions to make annual donations to help cover running costs; it does not state a required amount on its About page.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Judgment changes
- BAILII says it will remove or alter a judgment or tribunal decision when the court or tribunal authorises the change, and its policy is not to do so without that authorisation.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- LawCite
- LawCite can search by citation, parties, court, jurisdiction, article title, author, year, and cases or legislation considered.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Legal status
- BAILII is legally constituted in the UK as a company limited by guarantee and as a charitable trust.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Linking
- BAILII welcomes links to its front page or individual items.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- BAILII provides free online access to British and Irish primary legal materials.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Search
- BAILII offers case law, legislation, other materials, advanced and multidatabase search options.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Search and browsing
- Users can search databases by keyword or browse them by date or A–Z title list.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Search operators
- Search supports Boolean operators including AND, OR and NOT.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Search tools
- BAILII’s help section lists basic, advanced and multidatabase search, citation search, date search and Boolean search help.bailii.org · read 8 Oct 2026
