Government bodies

House of Oireachtas

The website of the National Parliament (Oireachtas) of Ireland. The Houses of Oireachtas consists of the President and two Houses: Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives) and Seanad Éireann (the Senate). The website contains information about the House of Oireachtas and parliamentary business including online debates, bills and legislation, questions and information on its committees. Other features include educational material, a live streaming service, research publications and information on parliamentary inquiries. Text is available in English or Gaelic.

Public Defender Service

The Public Defender Service (PDS) is a department of the Legal Aid Agency providing a range of criminal defence services including advice and representation at the police station or magistrates court through to advocacy in the higher courts. The PDS was established in 2001 as the first salaried criminal defence service in England and Wales and provides legal aided defence representation in all types of criminal cases.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Website of the UK government’s Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU), which has responsibility for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU. Government publications, including policy and consultation documents on Brexit, are available on the site along with press releases providing updates on negotiations and government statements.

Professional Standards Authority

Website of the Professional Standards Authority, an independent body set up under the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 to improve the regulation and registration of people working in health and care and develop standards for regulators and accredited registers to meet. The site provides information and links to all the UK health regulators as well as accredited registers that register health and social care practitioners who are not regulated by law such as the Association of Child Psychotherapists or the British Acupuncture Council.

Social Care Wales

Social Care Wales is the body that sets and maintains standards for the social care workforce in Wales. There is information on the Register of Social Care Workers in Wales which is administered by Social Care Wales and on the Code of Professional Practice for Social Care which sets standards for all care professionals in Wales. The site also has training, development and careers information for the social care sector. A collection of resources including documents, videos and links to external web resources of interest to social care workers in Wales is also given on the site.

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA): International Law

International law section of the Swiss foreign ministry’s website, covering topics such as privileges and immunities, neutrality, international humanitarian law and international agreements. Official reports and manuals are provided, together with links to relevant Swiss legislation and international conventions. The International Agreements page has a database of treaties involving Switzerland and provides information about the treaties for which the Swiss government is the depositary. The site is in French, German, Italian and most – but not all - of it is also available in English.

OHADA: Organization for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa

This is the official website of OHADA. The main part of the site provides the OHADA Treaty and OHADA uniform acts in English and French; it also has recent cases from the Cour Commune de Justice et d’Arbitrage and legal commentary (‘Doctrine’), but these are in French only. A larger repository of OHADA documentation can be found in the Digital Library: all issues of the OHADA Journal Officiel (Official Gazette), cases from 2010 onwards, uniform acts and other material, all in French.

Documents and laws - Riksdagen

English version of the Swedish Parliament’s ‘Documents and laws’ page. Includes translations of the fundamental laws - the Instrument of Government, the Act of Succession, the Freedom of the Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression – and a translation of the Parliament Act. Also provides a guide to the Swiss constitution and translations of parliamentary reports (some in summary form). The page gives basic information in English about various parliamentary procedures as well, together with links to the relevant parliamentary documents (which are in Swedish).

Norfolk Island Regional Council

Website of the Norfolk Island Regional Council the body set up to replace the Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly (under which the Island was self-governed) in 2016. Norfolk Island is an external Australian territory in the Pacific ocean with most Australian Commonwealth laws including taxation, social security, immigration, biosecurity, customs and health covering the Island. The Council provides a range of local services including broadcasting, courts and legal services, planning and development and registry of land, companies, births, deaths and marriages.

Parliament of Australia: Parliamentary Library

Website of the Australian Parliamentary Library which is part of the Department of Parliamentary Services. The Library supports the work of the Australian Parliament and provides services to “senators, members, their staff, the staff of parliamentary departments and the Governor-General”. The Library produce Bills Digests to provide background information and highlight the purpose of the bill and key issues for members. Bills Digests can be searched or browsed and read in full on the site.

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