Selected Sources for UK Legal Factsheets
Jinfo Blog

By Adrian Janes

Abstract

DocuTicker editors contribute brief articles to FUMSI on conducting research with grey literature - reports from government agencies, think tanks, research institutes and public interest organisations.

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In my work as a contributing editor for DocuTicker, I research publicly available reports on a number of global topics. Here are some of my favourite resources for UK Legal Factsheets:

Introduction to UK Legal Factsheets

Factsheets are a useful tool for many subjects, but especially in a field with as many potential complications as law. All good online legal sources stress that such documents can only be considered a summary, rather than a definitive legal statement. This is partly because of the modifying effect of case law, and partly because amendments to laws may be made before the relevant factsheet can be appropriately updated (an important reason for noting when a legal factsheet was published). That said, the sources noted in this article at least provide a basis for understanding a wide range of legal topics for the general public and the student, and perhaps a refresher for legal professionals.

Factsheets dealing with English consumer affairs come from Advice Guide, a website run by Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). Befitting its place as a truly popular source of legal information (the CAB is a long-established UK charity, largely staffed by volunteers), the problem areas covered here are of the everyday variety, e.g. Banks and building societies (PDF); Dealing with call centres (PDF); and Mobile phones (PDF).

Intellectual property and copyright are issues as live in the UK as anywhere. So the comprehensive set of information provided by the UK Copyright Service (UKCS) is a convenient way to become acquainted not just with UK copyright law, but also such international aspects as the Berne Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention and Website copyright. Even more conveniently, the UKCS' four most popular factsheets, along with a copyright registration application form, can be downloaded as a collection (PDF).

With job insecurity rising, employees need to be well-versed in such rights as they have.

Sheffield Law Centre's factsheets include vital topics such as Unfair dismissal (PDF), Sexual harassment (PDF) and Employment tribunals (PDF).

Workplace health and safety issues, and the law relating to them, are covered by the Health and Safety Executive's extensive range of Free Leaflets. Each subject heading leads to one (but often more) detailed factsheets or pamphlets, e.g the collection Managing health and safety.

The above are complemented by LawWorks, a charitable arm of the UK's chief legal association, the Law Society. In addition to the subjects of Employment Law and Intellectual Property, there are factsheets on Corporate Structure and Charity Law; Data Protection; Tax; and Property. The coverage in some of these categories can be thin (e.g. Tax contains just the one document, on Tax and VAT Issues for Charities), but the documents all have the cachet of the Law Society behind them, and also appear to be subject to vigilant updating, many having been revised within the last 12 months.

The Law Society also produces two further series of factsheets. The page entitled Fact sheets may be useful to those seeking to gather facts and figures about the profession, whether as a researcher or as an aspiring member of the profession. Thus examples of titles from this source include Key facts on the solicitors' profession (PDF), Minority Ethnic Group Solicitors (PDF), and statistics detailing the profession in the various regions of England and Wales. Unfortunately their age (often 4 or 5 years old) mean they must be used with some caution.

In terms of guidance to solicitors themselves, the Society provides Practice Notes. Many concern the efficient (and legally compliant) running of practices. Others embrace important areas of solicitors' work, like Wills and Immigration; in all categories, the majority appear to have been published no more than 18 months ago.

Finally, an enormous range of legal issues, from Alibi Evidence to Youth Offenders is covered by the Crown Prosecution Service's Legal Guidance A to Z. These documents are comparatively detailed and, since they are usually webpages rather than, say, PDFs, they are also able to make adroit use of links. The factsheet on the Freedom of Information Act 2000 illustrates this. This combination of qualities makes them particularly suitable for legal professionals who need conciseness without cutting too many corners.


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