Digitisation Projects
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies is continuing work on digitisation initiatives to build selective collections of digital versions of rare and unusual items from its historic collections. As well as digital content creation and provision from its own collections, IALS is also involved in co-ordinated content-building with other law libraries and specialists online services.
Projects
Association of Average Adjusters collection
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies has completed a project to catalogue fully and digitise selectively a collection of rare and historical maritime and shipping law treatises entrusted to the Institute by the Association of Average Adjusters through the London Shipping Law Centre making them available for the first time to researchers worldwide via the IALS Library catalogue.
LLMC-Digital service
IALS library contributes materials from its Common Law Collection to LLMC-Digital and the former IALS Librarian, David Gee, advised the project through membership of the LLMC-Digital board and multinational Advisory Council.
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Case Papers
IALS holds an important collection of case papers from appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and has undertaken a digitisation project to raise the discoverability, visibility and usability of the documents.
The Judicial Committee of The Privy Council is the court of final appeal for the UK overseas territories and Crown dependencies and for those Commonwealth countries that have retained the appeal to Her Majesty in Council or, in the case of Republics, to the Judicial Committee. It has decided cases across a wide range of legal topics such as: admiralty, constitutional and ecclesiastical matters, contract, murder, status of persons; and had a key role in the export and assimilation of common law around the world. Countries include: Aden, Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Basutoland, Bermuda, Canada, Ceylon, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, Ghana, Gibraltar, Gold Coast, Great Britain, Guernsey, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Jersey, Kenya, Lesotho, Malaya, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nigeria, Palestine, Rhodesia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somaliland, Tanganyika, Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda. Historically it was the supreme appellate court of the British Empire, whose decisions also provided valid precedents for British courts.
IALS has been able to digitise many of the additional case papers it holds relating to historic Judicial Committee of the Privy Council decisions. Over 5,000 searchable PDFs have been created involving more than 317,000 page scans.
The digitised papers (case for the appellant, case for the respondent, record of proceedings, factums and appendices) are now available as searchable PDF files alongside the judgment texts already freely available on BAILII.
Commonwealth Law collection
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies has digitised selected early and at risk items from the Commonwealth Law Library making them available for the first time to researchers worldwide via the IALS Library catalogue.
Selected Examples
New Brunswick acts of the General Assembly 1786 -1836
New South Wales proclamations, government and general orders 1786 - 1823
English Law collections
Digitised items from the English Law collection can be found on the library catalogue.
Selected Example
Selden, John, 1584-1654
The historie of tithes that is, the practice of payment of them : The positiue laws made for them. The opinions touching the right of them / A review of it is also annext, which both confirmes it and directs in use of it. By I. Selden.
[London], M.DC.XVIII.
European Law collections
Digitised items from the European Law collection can be found on the library catalogue.
Selected Examples
Heligoland acts
Laws and statutes relating especially to Heligoland.
Heligoland ordinances
Ordinances. 1864-89.
Roman Law and Roman-Dutch Law collections
Digitised items from the Roman Law and Roman-Dutch Law Collection can be found on the library catalogue.
Selected Examples
Wernherus, of Schussenried, 15th cent.
Modus legendi abbreviaturas passim in jure tam civili quàm pontificio occurrentes : nunc primùm integritati suae restitutus : huic accessere tituli, quae & rubricae vulgò nuncupantur, in universum jus civile.
Parisiis : Apud Gulielmum Desboys, 1562.
Legum flosculi, nunc demum suae integritati restituti.
Parisiis : Apud Gulielmum Desboys, 1566.
Corpus juris civilis. Institutiones.
Arnoldi Vinnii JC. in quatuor libros Institutionum imperialium : commentarius academicus & forensis / Jo. Gottl. Heineccius JC. recensuit et praefationem notulasque adfecit.
Lugduni Batavorum : Apud Joannem van der Linden, Juniorem, 1726.
Sande, Johannes van den, ca. 1577-1638.
Vijf boecken der gewysder saecken voor den Hove van Bries-land : Eerst-mael int Latijn beschreven, ende vergadert ... nu op't Neder-duytsch vertaelt.
Leeuwarden : Rinnerts, 1652.