originally posted at blaugh.com (sharing policy)
Before you look at a web page, remember that on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog. Anyone can write anything on the Internet and it doesn't have to be true. There are a couple of tools for assessing the quality of websites, one of which is the CRAAP test: a list of criteria that you can use to assess the credibility of a source. If you're doing research on the Internet, consider the following:
Currency: when was the information posted, has it been revised or updated, does it reflect current knowledge, do the links work?
Relevance: who is the page aimed at, is the information at an appropriate level, how does it compare to other sources on the same topic, would you be happy to use this a source if you were writing an assignment/dissertation?
Authority: who wrote the page, do they have any qualifications & and are they relevant to the topic, is there contact information, what is the top level domain e.g .com (companies) .gov (government), .org (non-profit organisation), .edu/.ac (educational )?
Accuracy, what the source of the information, is it evidence-based, what kind of language is used, what is the tone of the page, is it free from grammatical or spelling errors, can you verify any of the information independently?
Purpose: why does the page exist, is the author trying to inform, persuade, entertain or sell you something, are the intentions clear, is it objective, Are there political, cultural or other biases?
Some good Law related websites. If you find any broken links, or are a DBS staff member or student who wants to suggest a site for inclusion, please contact the library. If you are neither staff nor student, your unsolicited suggestions will be ignored.. Last updated 10/09/2018
Official website of the Irish Courts service. Full text archive of Supreme Court (from 2001) and Court of Criminal Appeal (from 2004) judgments are posted on the site
The Irish Statute Book database comprises the Acts of the Oireachtas, Statutory Instruments and Legislation Directory
Website of the Irish Government
Part of the Government of Ireland website. Includes Houses of the Oireachtas (with weekly Oireachtas schedule), full Dail debates from 1919 to 2006, Seanad debates from 1922 and Acts from 1997-present.
The educational, representative and regulatory body of the solicitors' profession in Ireland.
The website of the statutory body established under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 to review legislation and make recommendations for reform. Includes full text of reports and papers.
Legal resource site administered by UCC Law faculty. Includes Irish legislation, cases by subject & access to legal journals
A blog by Dr. Darius Whelan, UCC Faculty of Law, giving updates on aspects of Irish and Northern Irish Law
Website of the barristers' profession in Ireland
A body devoted to defending Civil, Human and Legal rights in a digital age.
An extremely useful resource for both Irish and general law. It has extensive lists of law links by subject, legal publications and links to Irish Law blogs and discussion groups.
Established under the Human Rights Commission Act 2000, the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) promotes and protects the human rights of everyone in Ireland
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is the independent national authority responsible for upholding the EU fundamental right of individuals to data privacy
The Probation Service is an agency within the Department of Justice and Equality. Its role is to help reduce the level of crime and to increase public safety by working with offenders to help change their behaviour and make good the harm done by crime.
The Attorney General is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State.
Workplace Relations is a government web site (produced by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation) providing information on rights and obligations under employment equality and industrial relations legislation for Ireland.
The Legal Aid Board is responsible for the provision of legal aid and advice on matters of civil law to persons unable to fund such services from their own resources.
This website is run by the Citizens Information Board and provides information on public services and entitlements in Ireland
Ireland's national police service
The office that enforces the criminal law in the courts on behalf of the People of Ireland & directs and supervises public prosecutions on indictment in the courts.
Irish HR and Employment Law specialists
The oldest institution of professional legal education in Ireland, whose primary focus is the training of barristers
An index of Irish Legal Periodicals from 1997 to date run by UCC Law Faculty
Statutory body responsible for enforcing consumer protection and competition law in Ireland
The central repository of public statutory information on Irish companies and business names
The office charged with ensuring compliance with company law
The Freedom of Information Acts give people a right of access to records held by many public bodies including Government Departments, the HSE and Local Authorities.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is Ireland's leading independent human rights watchdog
FLAC is an independent human rights organisation dedicated to the realisation of equal access to justice for all. It campaigns on a range of legal issues but also offers some basic, free legal services to the public.
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) Lex-Judgments is a database that provides free access to leading judicial decisions related to intellectual property law, worldwide.
The website of the UK Houses of Parliament
The portal for government departments and services, including the justice system.
judicial decisions and directions, sentencing remarks, information on the Judiciary itself
Information on, and links to, agencies comprising the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland
The UK’s official public record
The representative body for the solicitors' profession in Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) is an Agency within the Department of Justice (DOJ) sponsored by the Access to Justice Directorate. Its role is to: provide administrative support for Northern Ireland’s courts and tribunals; sup
JUSTICE is an all-party law reform and human rights organisation working to strengthen the justice system in the United Kingdom.
The official home of UK legislation
A web portal for those interested in Scots Law
A comprehensive set of links to useful British and Irish legal resources
British and Irish case law & legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports, and other law-related British and Irish material
Reports and comments on UK Supreme Court cases
The World's Largest Free and Open Database of Legal Scholarship
LawCite is a collaborative project with members of the Free Access to Law Movement. There are currently 4,480,497 indexed cases, law reform documents and journal articles included in the system
EUR-Lex provides free access to European Union law, and offers daily editions of the Official Journal of the European Union online.
The International Commission of Jurists is comprised of up to sixty lawyers (including senior judges, attorneys and academics) dedicated to ensuring respect for international human rights standards through the law. Commissioners are known for their experi
Access to free worldwide law databasesThis site provides free, independent and non-profit access to worldwide law
U.S. code, constitution, federal rules, Supreme and Federal Court opinions
Official website of the European Court of Human Rights
Legal information sources for a wide range of jurisdictions and areas of international law.
a public database of official texts of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by governmental agencies and international organizations
online lectures and discussion archives covering the Internet and society and Internet law
Information on international commercial law with subsidiary interests in commerce and (mostly open standard) Net and information technologies
The official website of the European Union
A gateway site, providing annotated links to selected UK, Commonwealth and worldwide free legal web sites. Over 1,300 sites are currently included.
Free access to over 1400 databases from 60 Commonwealth and Common Law jurisdictions
A focus for research on EU and European Human Rights Legislation. Includes abstracts from conference speechesBased at Trinity College Dublin, the ICEL is a neutral body that seeks to promote knowledge, understanding and the good practice of EU law and Eu
City University London's legal portalLawbore is a service developed by The City Law School, part of City University, London. It was first created in 2002 to offer undergraduate students an online research portal based around the modules they were studyin
A comprehensive citation system for Irish lawyers and students called OSCOLA Ireland, developed by four academics at the University of Limerick, Dublin Institute of Technology and the National University of Ireland Galway, and based on the OSCOLA standard
Website of the Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities, a referencing standard for legal materials
A Cardiff University online tutorial on citing using OSCOLA
An online tutorial on referencing with Oscola from QUB
This database enables you to search for the meaning of abbreviations for English language legal publications, from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the United States, including those covering international and comparative law
Legal writing section of the Lawbore site
This article attempts to fill the theoretical void in the literature by offering a systematic analysis of what it is for a legal document to be well-written
Companion website for Lisa Webley's Legal Writing textbook
Resources for legal writing