Access to Legal Information Through Public Libraries in England and Wales

Abstract England and Wales have no public law libraries, so how does the general public find legal information? This article, written by Abi Reader , Assistant Librarian at Certara Predictive Technologies, provides a starting point in understanding the availability of publicly available legal information. It explores the intersection of two austerity measures, cuts to legal aid and public library spending, through searching public library catalogues for primary sources of law. Public libraries provide computers and internet access to search free online legal information sites but overall provide limited access to print law reports. This article is based on research presented at the 54 th Annual BIALL Conference.