Website of the Northern Ireland Bar the body representing and regulating barristers in the province. The site has information on what barristers do, professional standards and specialist bar associations. There is guidance on making a complaint against a barrister and a directory that can be searched by name or area of legal expertise.
Website of the Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland (LSANI), an executive agency within the Department of Justice, which has responsibility for the administration of legal aid in Northern Ireland. There is information about the work of LSANI and members of the LSANI Board and guidance on accessing legal aid aimed at the public. The section aimed at the legal profession provides legislation, Department of Justice Directions and LSANI guidance. There is also guidance on using the digital Legal Aid Management System (LAMS).
Official website of the Northern Ireland judiciary. The site lists members of the judiciary and provides information on the court structure in Northern Ireland. There are sections on the Judicial Studies Board which oversees training for judges and on legacy litigation and inquests arising out of the conflict in Northern Ireland. A database of full text court and tribunal decisions and directions can be browsed by type, date or judge or searched by keyword. Publications can also be viewed including sentencing guidelines, press releases and bench books.
The Northern Ireland Official Publications Archive (NIOPA) is hosted by Queen's University Belfast. The library at Queen’s is a depository for printed official publications and, since 2015, has focused on the creation of a digital archive of Northern Ireland official publications covering current and previous ministerial departments, independent bodies and other organisations. There’s a description of each department along with their associated agencies and a list of the publications collected. Full text documents are presented in PDF.
The UK Web Archive aims to give permanent online access to key UK websites for future generations by preserving ‘snapshots’ of websites over time. The project is jointly provided by the British Library in partnership with the National Library of Wales, JISC and the Wellcome Library. It is possible to search the archive or to browse by category. The category titled ‘Government, Law and Politics’ includes the sub-categories ‘Law and Legal System’ and ‘Crime, Criminology, Police and Prisons.’
The Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards investigates complaints that a councillor has failed to comply with the Northern Ireland Local Government Code of Conduct for Councillors (which sets out the principles and rules of conduct which councillors must observe). The site has guidance aimed at the public on making a complaint and for councillors on the complaints procedure. Details of past and forthcoming Adjudication Hearings are given on the site along with decisions.
The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) provides a complaints service for members of the public dealing with organisations including government departments and agencies, councils, public housing providers and Health and Social Care Trusts. There is guidance aimed at the public on making a complaint and NIPSO service standards and guidance for public authorities on handling complaints and issuing apologies. A selection of summaries of cases dealt with by NIPSO is given in the online Annual Reports dating from 2012-13.
BrexitLawNI is a collaborative research project between the law schools of Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University and the Committee on the Administration of Justice, a human rights organisation based in Belfast. The project is looking at the legal and constitutional elements of Brexit as they relate to Northern Ireland and background information is given for the key themes. These include the peace process, relations between the North and South of Ireland, border controls and free movement and equality and human rights issues.
The Interfaith Legal Advisers Network (ILAN), based at Cardiff Law School's Centre for Law and religion, brings together lawyers and administrators to share their experience of relgious law and the administration of religious organisations and to discuss the interface between State law and religous law. The ILAN webpages include an extensive collection of links to laws and regulatory documents of the major religious groups in the UK.
A comprehensive guide to stamp duty land tax (SDLT), available on the UK Government website. SDLT is payable on property sales and purchases above a certain value, depending on the property type and use. There is a full guide to SDLT, including how to pay it and when it applies, and forms regarding SDLT are also provided. The site also includes information on annual tax for enveloped dwellings, a different type of property tax applicable to residential dwellings.
