The Counsel grounds its answers in primary England & Wales law from free, authoritative public sources — and is honest about where those sources fall short.
Statute and statutory instruments are taken from the official revised text on legislation.gov.uk, with in-force and commencement checks via our UK legislation tools. Where an amendment has commenced but is not yet incorporated into the revised text, we flag the uncertainty rather than assert a clean answer.
Judgments come from The National Archives' Find Case Law service and BAILII. Coverage is strongest for senior courts from the early 2000s onward; older first-instance decisions and unreported judgments may not be freely available, and we say so when it matters.
For practical points we draw on gov.uk, ACAS, the ICO and other regulator guidance. Guidance is not law, so we treat it as persuasive context and point to the underlying statute or case where one exists.
Commercial databases (Westlaw, Lexis) sell an editorial citator that flags whether a case has been overruled or distinguished. There is no free equivalent for England & Wales, and we do not fabricate one. Treat any case we surface as a starting point to verify, not a settled authority.
Where a question can be answered from the current text of an Act — which our in-force checks handle well — we prefer that to reasoning from case law, because the currency signal is stronger.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal systems and are out of scope. If your matter is governed by another jurisdiction, our output does not apply.
Guides are written and maintained by The Counsel editorial desk and reviewed against primary legislation and case law for England & Wales. Each guide shows the date it was last reviewed; the set was last reviewed 15 June 2026.
The Counsel is an AI tool for England & Wales. It provides legal information, not legal advice, and is not a law firm or a substitute for a regulated solicitor. It does not conduct litigation or represent you. For anything high-value or contested, prepare a solicitor handoff and take advice before you act.