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Find Case Law
What it is
Find Case Law is a free website and API for locating published judgments and tribunal decisions. Its collection covers England and Wales, together with UK-wide cases from the Supreme Court and Privy Council. Search can examine full judgment text and details including court name and neutral citation. Filters narrow results by date, court or tribunal, party name, or judge name. Users can download decisions as PDFs, print them, save them, and share links to individual judgments. Reading, downloading, quoting, research, and commercial use are free under the Open Justice Licence; computational analysis needs a separate licence. No account is required for these described uses. Judgments come directly from courts and tribunals, and the service calls itself the official public source for what it publishes. The collection excludes most magistrates’ court decisions and cases restricted from publication. It does not provide legal advice or interpretation.
For and against
For
- Free access to published judgments
- Full-text and citation searching
- Filters by court, date, party, or judge
- PDF downloads and shareable links
- No account required for described uses
Against
- Search does not support Boolean operators
- Similar words and spelling errors are not matched
- Collection excludes many magistrates’ court decisions
- Computational analysis requires a separate licence
The verdict
Find Case Law provides broad public access to selected UK judgments through web search and an API. Its coverage limits and separate computational-analysis licence matter for specialist research.
Who it suits
It suits legal professionals, students, researchers, journalists, self-represented people, and members of the public seeking judgments. It also offers an API for software access.
Plans and prices
Find Case Law
Free access to judgments · computational analysis requires a separate licence
Read 11 Oct 2026 · caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk
On the record
- API
- The service can be accessed through its website or the Find Case Law API.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Audience
- The service provides guidance for legal professionals, students, researchers, journalists, self-represented people, and members of the public.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Coverage limits
- The service is not a comprehensive record of every case and excludes most magistrates’ court decisions and cases barred from publication by restrictions or other legal constraints.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Downloads
- Users can download judgments as PDFs, print them, save them, and share links to specific judgments.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Legal advice
- Find Case Law does not provide legal advice, interpretation, or support.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Licensing
- Most uses, including reading, downloading, quoting, research, and commercial use, are free under the Open Justice Licence; computational analysis requires a separate licence.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Partners
- The National Archives provides Find Case Law in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, and the Judicial Office.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Find Case Law provides free access to court judgments and tribunal decisions from England and Wales, plus UK-wide cases from the Supreme Court and Privy Council.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Registration
- No registration or account is required for the described free uses of judgments.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Search
- Users can search judgment full text and details such as court name and neutral citation, then filter by date, court or tribunal, party name, or judge name.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Search limits
- Search does not recognise Boolean operators, match similar words, or correct spelling mistakes.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Security and privacy
- The National Archives is the data processor for publication, while the court that decided a case is the data controller for the judgment content.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Source and authority
- Judgments are provided directly by courts and tribunals, and the service describes itself as the official public source for the judgments it publishes.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
- Support
- The team handles technical problems, questions about judgments, error reports, and general enquiries, and says it aims to respond promptly.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk · read 11 Oct 2026
