Support Access to Justice: BAILII Offers A Free Database of British and Irish Legal Cases

For anyone seeking legal materials, The British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) is an indispensable resource—offering the most comprehensive database of British and Irish cases freely available online. Both BAILII and the CMC assist in providing access to justice in different ways.

Terry Renouf, mediator and CMC Finance Director, attended an event for BAILII’s 24th birthday: “I was delighted to attend the Sir Henry Brooke Lecture presented by Baroness Kennedy on 21st November, at which BAILII launched its 24th Birthday appeal.

I use the extensive (and free to the user) BAILII database of cases when preparing for my own mediations and also, occasionally, suggest that unrepresented parties might want to review a case that is similar to theirs where cited by lawyers to help them make better informed decisions on the mediation day.”

BAILII now has no support from the Ministry of Justice and relies on crowd funding to provide its services. Terry highlighted his personal support of the platform: “I am pleased to be part of that crowd, and to circulate the link to the BAILII Appeal page for my fellow mediators who might want to join the mob!!”