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BAILII (the British and Irish Legal Information Institute) is a free website of British and Irish primary legal materials: case law, legislation and related publications. This guide is for researchers who need to find a judgment, read its neutral citation, and cite it correctly in a paper.
What is BAILII?
BAILII describes itself as “the most comprehensive set of British and Irish primary legal materials that are available for free and in one place on the internet” (bailii.org, read 2026-11-08). It is run as a company limited by guarantee and registered charitable trust. It is hosted by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London and the Law Faculty of University College Cork, and its software was developed with help from AustLII, the Australian equivalent (see our guide to AustLII).
BAILII’s own statistics page, as reported in August 2019, listed 102 databases across 10 jurisdictions and about 1,001,463 searchable documents. Treat that as a dated figure, not a current count.
What BAILII covers
According to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies library guide (read 2026-11-08), the service is updated daily and includes:
- United Kingdom cases, primary and secondary legislation (including devolved legislation), treaties, and law reform publications for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
- The same categories for Ireland
- European Union cases, European Court of Human Rights cases, and the Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities
- Cases from Jersey, St Helena and the Cayman Islands, and from the ADGM and DIFC courts (UAE) and the Qatar International Court
- A small number of books and journals, UK judges’ speeches and the Sir Henry Brooke lectures
Who runs and funds BAILII?
Material comes from free-to-air sites, CD-ROMs, and direct or indirect feeds from courts, government departments and other organisations. BAILII is free to the public and relies on donations; it asks commercial users and educational institutions for annual donations.
Neutral citations on BAILII
A neutral citation identifies a judgment independently of any law report series. BAILII’s citation page (read 2026-11-08) gives the form [year] court-identifier number, for example [year] UKHL n, [year] EWCA Civ n, [year] EWHC n (QB) or [year] IESC n.
| Court group | Neutral citations start |
|---|---|
| UKHL, UKPC, EWCA Civ, EWCA Crim, EWHC Admin | 11 January 2001 |
| EWHC divisions (Ch, Pat, QB, Admin, Comm, Admlty, TCC, Fam) | 14 January 2002 |
| Scottish: HCJT, HCJAC, CSOH, CSIH | 1 January 2005 |
| EWFC, EWCOP | 22 April 2014 |
Are BAILII citations official?
Not always. BAILII started assigning unofficial neutral citations before the official system was adopted, and for courts that lack one. From 2002, EWHC numbers are unique across divisions; earlier BAILII-assigned EWHC numbers can repeat, so the division suffix is needed to tell them apart.
Citing a BAILII judgment
Give the case name, the neutral citation, and a pinpoint paragraph in square brackets, as in the BAILII pattern Case name [year] UKSC n at [11]. To link to a paragraph on BAILII, add #para and the paragraph number to the page URL (for example #para11). The reference style your journal uses (OSCOLA, Bluebook and others) determines the exact punctuation; for the US system compare our Bluebook statute citation guide. For the European case identifier, see ECLI. To check whether a US case is still good law, see Shepardizing.
Reuse and terms
BAILII publishes a “Terms of Service: Reproduction, Copyright and Prohibited Uses” page linked from its home page. Read it before bulk downloading or republishing material.
FAQ
Is BAILII free?
Yes. It is provided free of charge to the public and funded by donations, with commercial users and educational institutions asked for annual donations.
How often is BAILII updated?
The IALS library guide describes it as updated daily.
Does BAILII cover Ireland?
Yes: Irish case law, legislation and law reform publications are included, and Irish neutral citations such as [year] IESC n appear on the citation page.
Sources
- BAILII, About BAILII, read 2026-11-08.
- BAILII, Citation, read 2026-11-08.
- Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, BAILII: British and Irish Legal Information Institute, read 2026-11-08.
