Law: Sources of NI Law

The major databases, such as Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK  do not have COMPLETE coverage of full text updated Northern Ireland legislation

• Westlaw UK has the consolidated (updated and revised) legislation for NI from 1991 onwards and some older "as enacted" (i.e., not updated) legislation. 
• Lexis+ UK does not cover 'NI only' legislation in its ordinary legislative content but includes NI legislation via Valentine: All Law of Northern Ireland. This is available in Lexis+ UK under the Book sources.

At present the best free source for original and updated NI Acts, Orders and Statutory Rules is the official Legislation.gov.uk website below. There may be delays in revisions being uploaded to this source, so use with some caution.

Don't forget that many Acts of the UK Parliament (Westminster) extend to Northern Ireland.  Use the Finding Legislation tab for help on locating these.  The Extent section at the end of the Act, before any Schedules, will tell you whether an Act extends to Northern Ireland. 

Lexis+ UK is the only library database that provides the full text of the authoritative Northern Ireland Law Reports from 1945 onwards. It also provides access to the Northern Ireland Judgments Bulletin from 1994 onwards and unreported judgments from 1980 onwards. It should be your first port of call for NI case law.  However the list below also includes the major reliable (and free) web resources you may also use. 

Northern Ireland produces few specific journals.  The most useful are listed below. 

Journal articles about Northern Ireland legal issues can be found in many other legal journals.  You can search for them using the Journals Search option in Westlaw.

Print copies of consolidated Court Rules for Northern Ireland are available at Magee and Belfast. The Magistrates Court Rules are only available in Valentine's All Law of Northern Ireland - available from the Commentary sources in Lexis+ UK (as are copies of RSC and CCR).

The Library subscribes to the major legislation series in print.  E.g., all of the following are available in both Belfast and Magee: