Public General Acts
Top level of legislation in British law.
Passed by Parliament in a complicated process and then receive royal assent and become law. Sometimes a delay in provisions coming into force.
Normally cited as title of act followed by year, e.g. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
1460 to date held in Reference Library. Listed by year, then date of royal assent.
Full text on internet 1988 to date
Statutory Instruments (S.I.'s)
Empowered by a particular act and have the force of law.
Deal with the nuts and bolts of law and in some fields are very important, e.g. welfare benefits, transport law.
Main method of citing is to give year then (S.I.'s) number, e.g. 1999/123
If the word "regulations" is in the title of a work it is likely to be an S.I.
1973 to date held by Reference Library. Listed by year then number.
Full text on internet 1987 to date
Case Law
In British law cases held in the High Court and above can interpret and/or set legal precedent.
In some types of law, particularly aspects of civil law, it is case law which generally sets the law.
Generally quoted using the names of the parties in the case and possibly the year, e.g. Bliss v Hall. If the Crown is involved in the case use Regina, often abbreviated as R, e.g. R v BrowningI
A field the Reference Library has less on. Sometimes English and Empire Digest can help, but our main source is the Halsbury's Law Direct online database. Individual case reports can be requested through the normal inter library loan request service.
Books - general and specialist
Many books on law, both on general and specific topics, e.g. employment, business, housing, wills, etc, are held. Titles are generally aimed at the general public. Additionally the CANS digest of social legislation: Citizens Advice notes service is a looseleaf publication with concise and clear information on law with especial reference to topics dealt with by Citizen's Advice Bureau.
Leaflets in Community Information system
There are many free leaflets on legal matters, such as consumer rights, going to court, making small claims, etc.
The Reference Library has copies of many of these to give away. They are listed in the Community Information Database and include the Community Legal Service leaflets.
Internet sources
Acts
Statutory instruments
Halsbury's Law Direct database: subscription service, details in Reference Library
Darlington Community Legal Service site: Part of the of Darlington Borough Council site access from the Beacon logo on the home page.
General search engines such as Google, etc