Legislation
Open law: digital common property
Open law is the idea that public legal information should be freely available to everyone to access, use and republish. The current position in the UK differs completely as between legislation and case law. In the July issue of the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers I consider the state of open law in the UK. As […]
The new UK legislation service
Published in the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers, September 2010. Since late July we have a shiny new official home of UK legislation at legislation.gov.uk. In due course this will completely replace the two current legislation services at OPSI and the Statute Law Database. At present some functionality currently available on the Statute Law Database is […]
Improving legislation on the web
Published in the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers, July 2009. In 1996 HMSO started publishing new legislation on its website. Comprehensive coverage was later extended back to 1987 for Acts and 1988 for SIs. Although publication of legislation was timely and presentation competent, we yearned for what had been promised for many years – a comprehensive, […]
All in-force legislation now on OPSI
As reported earlier, OPSI is working with SPO to bring the two online legislative services together, to create a single place where visitors can access the widest range of legislative content held by the government alongside supporting material. The first step in this process is to publish a most recent version of revised statutes from […]
OPSI Legislation – heading towards the semantic web
The OPSI Report on Public Access Scheme Funding 2006/07 gives a good summary of recent and planned improvements in the OPSI legislation site. (See also my earlier post on improved access.) Here are some extracts from the (pdf) report: Over the last year and a half the Office of Public Sector Information has used funding […]
OPSI – improved access to legislation
OPSI has significantly improved its access to Acts of Parliament. See, for example the new Pensions Act 2007. The page layouts are now fully stylesheet driven, with more accurate layout; and there are options to view a “plain” version (without sidebars) or a “single page” version, presenting the full text on one page rather than […]
The Statute Law Database – an update
First published May 2007 in the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers. It is now 4 months since the Statute Law Database was released to the public. In the first couple of weeks following the launch there was a flurry of comment and criticism; but since then, near silence. Is everyone ecstatically happy with it, reserving their […]
Statute Law Database – the jury’s still out
In the first few days following the launch of the SLD there was a fair amount of comment and criticism. But since then … zilch. Is everyone ecstatically happy with it, reserving their judgment or quietly cursing its shortcomings? As a leading proponent for early and open access to the SLD (indeed, a main campaigner […]
Statute Law Database – free for all after all
The DCA has clarified its licensing terms for the SLD, confirming that it is indeed free for all as published. Its Copyright Notice has been amended and the SLD has been removed from the OPSI examples of Value Added Material. As well as being free “for non-commercial research, private study or internal circulation within your […]
Developments in legal information
First published January 2007 in the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers. Here are some of the key developments in the field of (free) legal information provision in 2006 and some predictions for 2007. The Statute Law Database After a 10-year wait, the Statute Law Database was finally released to the public just in time for Christmas. […]
Statute Law Database goes public
The Statute Law Database was finally released to the public today. See what you think. Background and issues are covered in my recent article. Is the SLD “open”? No: The content is available free of charge to be viewed on screen, copied, printed out for private study and research purposes or for internal circulation within […]
Free access to the laws that bind us? (2)
Yesterday Clare Allison, the Enquiry System Project Manager at the SPO, wrote to Statute Law Database trial users that: We are pleased to announce that the website as it stands will be launched free of charge to the public once piloting has been completed. A commercial strategy will still be developed next year, but will […]
Statute Law Database article
My article The Statute Law Database – finally a reality looks at the history and current shape of the SLD.
The Statute Law Database – finally a reality
The Statute Law Database is a project of the Statutory Publications Office (SPO), an office within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). It has a long and chequered history, reaching back to 1991 when the initial project was started. Until recently little information was released about the project, though regular assurances were given as to […]
The SLD – what did I expect?
I’ve just submitted my feedeback to the SPO on the Statute Law Database as a Public Pilot Phase 2 user. It’s premature to comment publicly in any detail, but here are the substantial points. Completeness Some 75 Acts – many substantial – remain to be loaded on the SLD. Further, the effects of much 2002 […]
