Sir David Clementi’s Report of the Review of the Regulatory Framework for Legal Services in England and Wales was published on 15 December. Key proposals are:

A Legal Services Board – this will oversee the way the legal profession regulates lawyers
The Office for Legal Complaints - a new gateway for consumer complaints about all lawyers
Legal Disciplinary […]

By Nick Holmes, 16 December 2004

The Cabinet Office Autumn Performance Report states that 96% of government services will be available electronically by the end of 2005, with 75% of these services currently available. Many services are experiencing high annual growth rates:

67% of incorporations are now electronic, up 19% from the previous year.
Over 1.1 million Self Assessment tax returns for 2002-03 […]

By Nick Holmes, 14 December 2004

Three sites that help you the citizen make sense of what your elected representatives are doing and hold them to account (in their own words):

TheyWorkForYou.comEverything MPs say in the House of Commons is recorded in a document called Hansard. TheyWorkForYou.com helps make sense of this vital democratic resource while allowing you to add comments and […]

By Nick Holmes, 8 December 2004

The start of the new Parliamentary session is a reminder just how awkward it is to monitor the progress of bills on the Parliament site. The Bills before parliament page summarises the position thus:

Public Bills before ParliamentThe page lists the titles of Public Bills currently before Parliament as well as Amendments to the Bill and […]

By Nick Holmes, 8 December 2004

First published December 2004 in Computers and Law
Lord Justice Brooke chaired the legendary “Free the Law” meeting at Chatham House in London which gave birth to the body we now know as BAILII. 1 November 2004 saw him again in the chair, this time to host a celebration of its first five years. He was […]

By Nick Holmes, 5 December 2004