Find Case Law vs Legal Information Institute
Find Case Law
caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Legal Information Institute
law.cornell.eduSide by side
| Figure | Find Case Law | Legal Information Institute |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Legal Research Software | 7.8 (#12) | 7.5 (#18) |
| Audience | The service provides guidance for legal professionals, students, researchers, journalists, self-represented people, and members of the public. | LII describes its work as making legal information more findable and understandable for the public. |
| Founded | 2022 | 1992 |
| Licensing | Most uses, including reading, downloading, quoting, research, and commercial use, are free under the Open Justice Licence; computational analysis requires a separate licence. | Special licensing or redistribution terms can be requested through the permissions category in LII's contact form. |
| Purpose | Find Case Law provides free access to court judgments and tribunal decisions from England and Wales, plus UK-wide cases from the Supreme Court and Privy Council. | LII publishes law online for free and creates materials to help people understand it. |
Plans
In their own words
Find Case Law
Find Case Law is a free web and API service for published court judgments and tribunal decisions. Coverage includes England and Wales, plus UK-wide cases from the Supreme Court and Privy Council. Users can search judgment text and details such as court name or neutral citation, then filter by date, court or tribunal, party, or judge. Results can be downloaded as PDFs, printed, saved, or shared through links to individual judgments. Reading, downloading, quoting, research, and commercial use are free under the Open Justice Licence, with no account required for those uses. Computational analysis requires a separate licence. Judgments come directly from courts and tribunals, and the service describes itself as the official public source for what it publishes. The collection is not comprehensive: most magistrates’ court decisions and cases restricted from publication are excluded. Find Case Law is provided by The National Archives with justice-sector partners and offers technical and general support.
Legal Information Institute
Legal Information Institute (LII) is a free web resource publishing legal information and explanatory material for the public. Its collections include the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations, state regulations, Supreme Court opinions, and federal rules. LII enriches government-published data by identifying, extracting, annotating, indexing, and presenting its features. Explanatory offerings include Wex, Supreme Court Bulletin previews, and case summaries in the Gender Justice Collection. Users can search case law and statutes and regulations, read commentary, and use citation tools. Read It Online accepts a formal case citation and returns links to free and paid judicial-opinion resources. Introduction to Basic Legal Citation is a free Bluebook alternative maintained by co-founder Peter Martin. Regulations from all 50 states and Washington, DC receive enhanced functionality. Coverage includes U.S. federal law, all states, and selected world law. The Free access plan costs nothing. LII does not provide legal advice or personalized research help.