{"id":734,"date":"2013-01-11T13:14:24","date_gmt":"2013-01-11T13:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/?p=734"},"modified":"2013-01-11T12:35:07","modified_gmt":"2013-01-11T12:35:07","slug":"access-to-judgments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/","title":{"rendered":"Access to judgments"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 20 November 2012 Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, delivered the First Annual BAILII Lecture, entitled \u201cNo Judgment \u2013 No Justice\u201d<\/a> in which he dealt with three important aspects of improving access to justice through improved access to judgments: their clarity, free dissemination and enhancement.<\/p>\n

His intro para is worth quoting here in full, not least because of its clever play on the J words:<\/p>\n

Judgments are the means through which the judges address the litigants and the public at large, and explain their reasons for reaching their conclusions. Judges are required to exercise judgement \u2013 and it is clear that without such judgement we would not have a justice system worthy of the name \u2013 and they give their individual judgement expression through their Judgments. Without judgement there would be no justice. And without Judgments there would be no justice, because judicial decisions, at least in civil and family law, without reasons are certainly not justice: indeed, they are scarcely decisions at all. It is therefore an absolute necessity that Judgments are readily accessible. Such accessibility is part and parcel of what it means for us to ensure that justice is seen to be done, to borrow from Lord Hewart CJ\u2019s famous phrase.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ready accessibility requires that judgments be clear and well reported.<\/p>\n

He had two \u201csmall\u201d and two \u201cmore controversial\u201d proposals for improving clarity in judgments:<\/p>\n

1) each judgment should have an introductory, summary paragraph<\/p>\n

2) judges should provide a guide to the structure and contents of longer judgments<\/p>\n

3) judgments should be shorter<\/p>\n

4) single judgments should be compulsory.<\/p>\n

He then discussed the \u201ctwo types of law reporting\u201d:<\/p>\n

On the one hand there is what can be described as Judgment-dissemination: providing the public with easy and full access to all Judgments. This is what Bailii does and does so very well. And then there is what can be described as Judgment-enhancement: classic and scholarly law reporting. This is what is done so well by, pre-eminently [ICLR and LexisNexis All ER] \u201d\u00a6 of particular importance because of the role it plays in developing the corpus of law. This is especially true of the common law, which is of course judge-made law.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The great benefits of the traditional law reports, he said, are reliability, accuracy and also selection.<\/p>\n

He bemoaned the decline of court reporting by the media and suggested that \u201cfew if any legal bloggers report from court as well or as fully as press reporters once did\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also saw a downside to efficient (electronic) judgment dissemination: the cost of legal advice and representation will go up if advisers have to trawl through BAILII and other websites to make sure they have left no stone unturned.<\/p>\n

Is judgment dissemination a threat to the survival of judgment enhancement? No, he said; the two are complementary.<\/p>\n

And how could BAILII be improved? He wondered if it is worth judges adopting the practice of producing \u201cstarred\u201d determinations, identifying whether a judgment is important or not.<\/p>\n

There is much to agree with here, but I can\u2019t help feeling his comments on law reporting relate to a different era, long, long ago when we had Web 1.0.<\/p>\n

Does BAILII just disseminate judgments or does it also enhance them (or shall we say, add value)? Certainly the latter. There is more to BAILII than finding cases by searching or browsing. For example, it cross links to referenced cases and legislation and finds cases by parallel proprietary citations; and updates of the basic meta data can be pulled in by subscribing to its RSS feeds.<\/p>\n

BAILII could easily do more to enhance judgments. Reference was made to BAILII\u2019s collaboration with the ICLR<\/a> which amounts to cross links between the two sites: BAILII judgments include a link to relevant ICLR summaries (WLR Daily Law Notes and ICLR subscribers can link directly from the neutral citations to the judgment on BAILII (see ). (Incidentally, BAILII has also started adding links from UKSC judgments to the press summaries on the UKSC site \u2013 a modest suggestion made by Lord Neuberger.)<\/p>\n

Is this, as ICLR suggest<\/a>, \u201ca small link for a mouse but a giant leap forward for BAILII and ICLR\u201d? Anyone familiar with Web 2.0 (as we used to call it), will feel these facilities are rather tame.<\/p>\n

Clearly there are things holding BAILII back. Its budget is inadequate; but also it is dependent on the goodwill of the legal establishment. So, that it does not compete with law reporting is a deliberate choice.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that if we all had open access to court judgments then creativity would be unleashed. I\u2019m sensitive to BAILII\u2019s arguments and have been sceptical of the give-us-the-data-and-we\u2019ll-organise-the-world crowd, but there\u2019s no doubt you can add a lot of value by mining the data. See what AustLII does with Lawcite<\/a>; and check out the fancy analysis on JustCite<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Of course \u201cscholarly law reporting\u201d enhances judgments considerably and is crucial in developing the law, but Lord Neuberger is outdated in his views on alternative law reporting. There are indeed legal bloggers who report \u201cas well and as fully as press reporters once did\u201d. In his own back yard he has UKSC Blog<\/a> which provides timely summaries and analyses of UKSC judgments; and there are several other specialist blogs like UK Human Rights Blog<\/a> and Nearly Legal<\/a> on housing law that report fully and comprehensively on judgments in their respective areas. They do not do so as formally as ICLR, or perhaps other present or bygone press reporters, but one cannot dismiss them; indeed we should embrace them as providing better access to law!<\/p>\n

See also the report of the lecture from Paul Magrath of ICLR<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Nick Holmes is joint editor of the Newsletter. He blogs at Binary Law<\/a>. A fuller version of this article is on his blog<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Email nickholmes@infolaw.co.uk<\/a>. Twitter @nickholmes<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 20 November 2012 Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, delivered the First Annual BAILII Lecture, entitled \u201cNo Judgment \u2013 No Justice\u201d in which he dealt with three important aspects of improving access to justice through improved access to judgments: their clarity, free dissemination and enhancement. His intro para is worth quoting here in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-access-to-justice","category-cases"],"yoast_head":"\r\nAccess to judgments - Internet for Lawyers Newsletter<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On 20 November 2012 Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, delivered the First Annual BAILII Lecture, entitled \u201cNo Judgment \u2013 No Justice\u201d in\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Access to judgments - Internet for Lawyers Newsletter\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On 20 November 2012 Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, delivered the First Annual BAILII Lecture, entitled \u201cNo Judgment \u2013 No Justice\u201d in\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Internet for Lawyers Newsletter\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-11T13:14:24+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nick Holmes\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nickholmes\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nickholmes\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nick Holmes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/\",\"name\":\"Access to judgments - Internet for Lawyers Newsletter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-11T13:14:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/person\/cc32805b4a8fda14e34ede9a76474263\"},\"description\":\"On 20 November 2012 Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, delivered the First Annual BAILII Lecture, entitled \u201cNo Judgment \u2013 No Justice\u201d in\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Access to judgments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/\",\"name\":\"Internet for Lawyers Newsletter\",\"description\":\"Edited by Nick Holmes\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/person\/cc32805b4a8fda14e34ede9a76474263\",\"name\":\"Nick Holmes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f5934805c5d6f0496dda81fe2290fdaefdab50842bc2c69868eff99ab0b15cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f5934805c5d6f0496dda81fe2290fdaefdab50842bc2c69868eff99ab0b15cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nick Holmes\"},\"description\":\"Nick Holmes is Editor of this Newsletter. He is a publishing consultant specialising in the legal sector and is Managing Director of legal web services company infolaw Limited. Email nickholmes@infolaw.co.uk. Twitter @nickholmes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.binarylaw.co.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/author\/nickholmes\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Access to judgments - Internet for Lawyers Newsletter","description":"On 20 November 2012 Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, delivered the First Annual BAILII Lecture, entitled \u201cNo Judgment \u2013 No Justice\u201d in","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Access to judgments - Internet for Lawyers Newsletter","og_description":"On 20 November 2012 Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, delivered the First Annual BAILII Lecture, entitled \u201cNo Judgment \u2013 No Justice\u201d in","og_url":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/","og_site_name":"Internet for Lawyers Newsletter","article_published_time":"2013-01-11T13:14:24+00:00","author":"Nick Holmes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@nickholmes","twitter_site":"@nickholmes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nick Holmes","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/","url":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/","name":"Access to judgments - Internet for Lawyers Newsletter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-11T13:14:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/person\/cc32805b4a8fda14e34ede9a76474263"},"description":"On 20 November 2012 Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, delivered the First Annual BAILII Lecture, entitled \u201cNo Judgment \u2013 No Justice\u201d in","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/2013\/01\/access-to-judgments\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Access to judgments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/","name":"Internet for Lawyers Newsletter","description":"Edited by Nick Holmes","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/person\/cc32805b4a8fda14e34ede9a76474263","name":"Nick Holmes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f5934805c5d6f0496dda81fe2290fdaefdab50842bc2c69868eff99ab0b15cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f5934805c5d6f0496dda81fe2290fdaefdab50842bc2c69868eff99ab0b15cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nick Holmes"},"description":"Nick Holmes is Editor of this Newsletter. He is a publishing consultant specialising in the legal sector and is Managing Director of legal web services company infolaw Limited. Email nickholmes@infolaw.co.uk. Twitter @nickholmes.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.binarylaw.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/author\/nickholmes\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":736,"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions\/736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infolaw.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}