Professional organisations

British Insurance Law Association

BILA is an organsiation for insurers, insurance brokers, academic lawyers and practising lawyers; its membership is drawn from Britain and also from overseas. As well as being an association in its own right, it is the British chapter of the Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances (AIDA). BILA’s website describes its work and gives details of its events, but most of the content - such as the Journal and the Research pages - is restricted to members.

Insolvency Practitioners Association

The IPA is a professional association for insolvency practitioners; it is a recognised licensing body for insolvency practitioners (IPs) under the Insolvency Act 1986. The Regulations and Guidance section of the IPA website provides Statements of Insolvency Practice, a Code of Ethics, links to UK insolvency legislation and a guide to insolvency practitioners’ fees. There is also a searchable directory of IPs.

Asociacion de Abogados de Buenos Aires

The Asociacion de Abogados de Buenos Aires represents the legal profession of Buenos Aires and is one of the most important professional legal Associations in South America. Its role focuses on the administration of justice, the enforcement of different areas of law and the training of its members. It is supported by many different committees which represent a wide range of subject areas. There is a programme of courses and professional activities for members. Its website includes a library of documents relating to the work of the association, in Spanish only.

Sociedad Argentina de Derecho Canónico

An Argentinian private association which promotes the study of the Catholic Church's canon law. It website provides a collection of relevant documents, including versions of the Codes of Canon Law from different jurisdictions. The texts are in Spanish only and are presented in Word or PDF format. The site also hosts a digital library of full-text documents which can be searched by author and subject area.

General Optical Council

The General Optical Council (GOC) is the regulator for the optical professions in the UK, registering optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses. Within the ‘General Public’ section, ‘Legislation’ contains a consolidated version with amendments of the Opticians Act 1989, GOC rules and regulations and amendments to Medicines Act legislation, all downloadable in PDF format.

British Medical Association

The British Medical Association (BMA) is the doctors’ professional organisation, representing doctors across all branches of medicine in the UK. The ‘Equality and Diversity’ section introduces the Equality Act 2010 and contains a short guide to the changes introduced by the Act. The ‘Medical Ethics’ section provides a range of guidance for doctors including ‘toolkits’, available in PDF, offering ethical guidance to doctors in areas such as child protection and the Mental Capacity Act. This section also contains a range of BMA publications, also in PDF format.

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the UK. Its statutory responsibilities are detailed in the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, available as a PDF from the website’s ‘About’ section. The ‘Advice & guidance’ section provides access The Code of Professional Conduct in full and the ‘Complaints’ section details the RCVS’ disciplinary and complaints procedures. The outcomes of all Disciplinary Committee hearings for the past 3 years are available in PDF format.

Chartered Institute of Taxation

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) is the UK’s leading body for taxation professionals. It deals with all aspects of taxation and aims to promote education in taxation. The ‘Policy and Technical’ section of the website contains technical articles that have been published in the CIOT’s monthly journal Tax Adviser from January 2000 onwards. Many of these can be downloaded in PDF format. This section also lists EU tax cases and legislation and various statements and reports made by the Confédération Fiscale Européene (CFE).

Maritime Law Association of South Africa

The Maritime Law Association was established in 1974 with the aim to “promote the study, research, administration and advancement” of maritime laws and their unification with those of road, rail and aviation. Details are given of the aims and objectives of the organisation and its past achievements. Full text access is given to a selection of maritime legislation to which the organisation may have contributed and also to a selection of judgments, both reported and unreported which have been provided by members (the latter is not a comprehensive collection).

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