Commonwealth Legal Records Project Archive

The Commonwealth Legal Records Project (CLRP), which began its investigations in 1990, was jointly sponsored by the Association of Commonwealth Archivists and Records Managers (ACARM) and the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA), and was financed by a grant from the Leverhulme Foundation. It comprised a three year programme of research into modern legal records throughout the Commonwealth. The objectives of the study were to:-

i) analyse questions relating to the nature, extent and potential uses of legal records of all kinds;
ii) collect information about the state of legal records in selected Commonwealth jurisdictions;
iii) analyse factors relevant to devising informed policies regarding the management, appraisal, preservation and destruction of legal records and suggest guidelines;
iv) produce and disseminate the findings of the study in a form that would be useful to interested institutions and individuals in different jurisdictions in the Commonwealth, especially developing countries.

The project produced one book, Legal Records in the Commonwealth, and one major study, Legal Records in Accra (Ghana). The records listed below cover both the specific research that resulted in the production of these publications and the collection of evidence generally relating all aspects of the creation and disposal of legal records. The records were transferred to the Records of Legal Education Archives upon the project's completion in 1993 by its co-ordinators, William Twining and Clare Cowling.

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CLRP ARCHIVES: CLASS LIST
quantity: 14 boxes
access: open

Class ref Dates Class description

A.CLRP 1 1989-1993 Administrative records

A.CLRP 2 1991-1993 Records relating to publication of Legal Records in the Commonwealth

A.CLRP 3 1984-1993 Research files - general

A.CLRP 4 1989-1993 Research files - England and Wales

A.CLRP 5 1990-1992 Research files - Ghana

CLRP ARCHIVES: HANDLIST OF RECORDS

A.CLRP 1: ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS
3 folders

Ref Dates Description

A.CLRP 1/1 1989-1993 Description of project, application to Leverhulme Trust for grant and progress reports to Trust

A.CLRP 1/2 1990-1993 Correspondence relating to financial arrangements

A.CLRP 1/3 1992-1993 Correspondence relating to deposit of Legal Records archive at Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

A.CLRP 2: RECORDS RELATING TO THE PUBLICATION OF LEGAL RECORDS IN THE COMMONWEALTH
3 folders

Ref Dates Description

A.CLRP 2/1 1992-1993 Correspondence with publisher

A.CLRP 2/2 1991-1993 Correspondence with contributors

A.CLRP 2/3 1993 Publicity arrangements

A.CLRP 3: RESEARCH FILES - GENERAL
6 boxes

Ref Dates Description

A.CLRP 3/1 1988-1991 Background papers and articles

A.CLRP 3/2 1989-1993 Progress reports

A.CLRP 3/3 1990-1992 Horror stories

A.CLRP 3/4 1991 Papers relating to symposium on legal records, 4 July 1991

A.CLRP 3/5 n.d. Copies of articles on sampling techniques

A.CLRP 3/6 1989-1991 Correspondence and papers, including copies of disposal schedules - Commonwealth and overseas generally

A.CLRP 3/7 1990-1992 Correspondence, papers and copies

(Pts 1-2) of disposal schedules - Australia

A.CLRP 3/8 1989-1992 Correspondence, papers and copies of disposal schedules - Canada

A.CLRP 3/9 1984-1987 Papers relating to international agencies

A.CLRP 3/10 n.d. Bibliography - background papers and list

A.CLRP 3/11 n.d. Bibliography - copies of articles A-Z (Pts 1-9)

A.CLRP 4: RESEARCH FILES - ENGLAND AND WALES
5 boxes

Ref Dates Description

A.CLRP 4/1 1989-1993 Meetings with relevant agencies and

(Pts 1-4) individuals - contents list and reports (Nos 1-44)

A.CLRP 4/2 1989-1993 Correspondence with government

(Pts 1-3) institutions (Home Office; Lord Chancellor's Department; Legal Aid Board)

A.CLRP 4/3 1989-1992 Correspondence with non-

(Pts 1-3) government institutions - contents list and letters (Nos 1-102)

A.CLRP 4/4 n.d.; 1992 Public Record Office - correspondence, schedules and extracts from the Current Guide

A.CLRP 4/5 n.d. Public Record Office - printed leaflets; occasional papers

A.CLRP 4/6 1990-1991 Places of deposit for legal records - papers

A.CLRP 4/7 1990-1993 County record offices - correspondence and questionnaire

A.CLRP 4/8 1992 Solicitors' officers - questionnaire

A.CLRP 4/9 1992 Draft chapter on Legal Records in England and Wales - comments and background papers

A.CLRP 5: RESEARCH FILES - GHANA
2 boxes

Ref Dates Description

A.CLRP 5/1 1990-1992 Case study: correspondence and background papers

A.CLRP 5/2 1992 Case study: original manuscript and completed case study

A.CLRP 5/3 1990 Legal records workshop: aims,

(Pts 1-2) objectives and background papers

A.CLRP 5/4 1990-1992 Legal records workshop: correspondence concerning arrangements and participants, with evaluation reports

A.CLRP 5/5 1990-1991 Legal records workshop: correspondence relating to financial arrangements

A.CLRP 5/6 n.d. Legal records workshop: working papers - master set with contents list

You can search records for the Commonwealth Legal Records Project Archive on the SHLs Archives Catalogue.

Access is by prior appointment. (Email: ials@sas.ac.uk or telephone 020 7862 5790)