The Statutes Project

New from Cambridge Elements: Lexicography and the Law Historical Dictionaries, Originalism, and the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution by Rebecca Shapiro Free to download until 19th November: www.cambridge.org/core/element... #LegalHistory

Site is down, and a misleading 'account suspended' page in its place. Hosts contacted, and am awaiting further news.

New slavery trial reports: Alfred v. Fitzjames, 1799, a claim for back wages. Espinasse's probably dodgy account, and a contemporary newspaper's version: statutes.org.uk/site/slavery... #EnslavedHistory #LegalHistory

Interesting findings from a day of hacking on legal search:

There's an urban (rural?) myth that James I passed a law requiring the planting of Mulberry trees. He did promote them, but there was no statutory requirement. Rabbit hole here: shkspr.mobi/blog/2017/01... #History

Thank you @statutes.bsky.social for enabling me to find the 1925 Statutory Rules and Orders on Lunacy buried deep within a Google Books pdf. I salute you!🫡🙏🖖https://statutes.org.uk/site/collections/british-and-irish/statutory-rules-orders-instruments/

We’re delighted to announce that the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal (OUCLJ) will join OLH in Spring 2027, moving from Taylor & Francis to our diamond open access model and becoming OLH’s first law journal! Read more: www.openlibhums.org/news/986/

The text of this equivocal act: statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta... #LegalHistory #EnslavedHistory

Really good map interface to Elizabethan Court of Requests cases, based on the National Archives catalogue, from @sharonhoward.bsky.social : inhermindseye.github.io/mindseye/pos... #History #LegalHistory

You can now quickly identify single female plaintiffs in Court of Requests cases by searching REQ 2 for the code "SFP". Over 2,500 hits. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_s...

Some very REQciting news. My Court of Requests pleadings (REQ 2/16-424) project is now complete. Over 28,000 items dating from c.1547-c.1625 (Edw VI to Jas I) now searchable online. Happy researching everyone 🙂 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C...

Text of the act here: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/4... #LegalHistory

Back up again.

Site is down again. Looking into it.

The Irish Legislation Database is back, at a new URL: resources.qub.ac.uk/ild/ Be warned: there seem to be quite a few broken links. #LegalHistory #History

I had a blast at this year's British Legal History Conference at the University of Nottingham, where I was talking about my early findings from surveying the whole of the Star Chamber estreats of fines in TNA E 159. [1/3]

I found a quite interesting book today. It's well indexed too, for example in case you were wondering if you were obliged to let a tiger stay in your establishment? I can see how that would be a gray area, but seemingly no...

On #LovingDay, explore the legal records behind Loving v. Virginia (1967), the Supreme Court case that struck down laws banning interracial marriage. The Internet Archive has digitized and made available the briefs, lower-court opinions, and related documents. archive.org/details/micr...

New issue marks 100 years since first publication of Kafka's brilliant unfinished novel 'The Castle': guest editorial (Ekaterina Yahyaoui Krivenko) and all research articles, essays, arts and book reviews now available on the website: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

It's taken a while, but there's now an Open Access version of an essay of mine (the publisher offered no route to OA, with or without embargo). Come and satisfy all your canon law history needs: 'Parliament and the law of the Church of England, 1943–74 peterwebster.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...

A case of LLM vs LLM: Judge Learns Lawyers on Both Sides of Case Used AI, Cancels Trial, Kicks Everyone Off the Case www.404media.co/judge-learns... #LegalAI

For anyone who published a book, article, or digital project on legal history between Jan.2025 and Dec.2026: you should apply to be featured in the ASLH's virtual event series for next yr--"Making Connections: New Works in Legal History, 2026-27." Due June 30, 2026: aslh.net/virtual-book... (1/2)

Not before time: France overturns law classing people as property – 178 years after it abolished slavery National assembly votes to repeal Code Noir under which enslaved people were beaten, raped and killed www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m... #LegalHistory #EnslavedHistory

Precisely why I started the Statutes Project: to make legislation discoverable, useable and citable. Whilst there's some very bad citation practices by historians, it is also needlessly difficult, and the infrastructure is lacking.

🚨 NEW TOOL for U.S. legal journalists ⚖️ I turned @allyjar.bsky.social's incredible crowdsourced Google doc on accessing state court records into an interactive map. Check it out and let me know about any errors, missing information, or ways I can improve this thing (link below)

A bit easier to scroll: statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta... #LegalHistory

At the Restoration in 1660, it was agreed that Charles II's reign began immediately following the death of Charles I a decade earlier, essentially ignoring the Interregnum. Some documents were even retroactively given a regnal year, like this 1649 Commonwealth record dated 1 Car. 2 [E 133/145/72]

Does anyone know what's happened to the Irish Legislation Database? When I go to www.qub.ac.uk/ild/ I get a not found message and a search isn't yielding anything. @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social @qubhistory.bsky.social @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social Panicking just a little here...

For #NationalTeaDay, what I think is the first statute to mention Tea. Taxes it, of course. A Grant of certaine Impositions upon Beere Ale and other Liquors for the encrease of His Majestyes Revenue dureing His Life. www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-rea... #History

I'm excited to share that we've made a collection of historic Supreme Court Records and Briefs available via @archive.org I've written a blog post where I go into detail about the importance of this collection. blog.archive.org/2026/04/20/u...

🚨Tomorrow, @JudiciaryGOP & @HouseJudiciary hold a hearing on the PRO CODES Act. As SCOTUS has already ruled: “No one can own the law.” This bill threatens that precedent by extending copyright to public laws and standards, restricting your right to access the rules we live by. ⚖️🏛️

Race, Law and Empire, 1750-1850 Conference University of Southampton AND online 17th - 18th July 2026 Call for Papers extended by popular request. Full details below. Please share widely. Established, emerging researchers are very welcome. Supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk

On 11 June 2026, I'm running an online intro to early modern legal records, part of The National Archives' Practical Archival Skills Training #TNAPAST workshops. More details can be found via the link. For accompanying on-site workshops, see the below thread www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/past-early...

Story time. Back in 2009, when I started CourtListener, I had the goal of collecting all the case law. I was young, naive, and I worked really hard at it. I gathered data from places like Public.Resource.org, and scraped what I could from other sources. 1/4

Happily, our regnal year calculator - niche even by our standards - only covers the lifespan of the UK Parliament, so does not need to cope with regicide api.parliament.uk/regnal-years

A fine instance of how problematic regnal calendars are.

In 1660, judges couldn't agree on which regnal year to use in the indictment against the regicides, as the crime of killing Charles I occurred on the last regnal day of Charles I's reign but also the first of Charles II's. So they just went with "30 Jan 1649" [from Sir John Kelyng's Reports]

For the first time ever, **in 2026**, it will be legal in Missouri for pregnant women to divorce their husbands. divorce.law/guides/news/...

Look, Statutes of the Realm is nice and all, but let's be honest, this illuminated 15th Century statute book is nicer. TNA E 164/10

The Stamp Act: statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta... The repeal: statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta... #History #LegalHistory

Any #EarlyModern folks out there who could recommend printed legal materials from England in the early 1630s, especially linked to forest law? I have a student who wants to work on this area for an undergraduate dissertation, & the go-to series I know for medieval legal sources aren't helping much.

I completely forgot I made this... a big list of English judicial records, 1500 to 1800, published and often online!

Things You MUST NOT DO In Covent Garden A look at the old market byelaws painted on boards at Covent Garden. londonist.com/london/histo... #LegalHistory #London