http://www.echr.info/ - the Convention in many languages

http://www.echr.coe.int/echr - the Court website - not a "brilliant" site but ok

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/useful_links.htm - some help and links from the Judicial Studies Board

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/hamlyn/echr.htm - probably a useful overview?

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1998/19980042.htm - the UK Human Rights Act 1998

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/948143.stm - the BBC - often a useful source of info. for the masses

http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/law/echr.shtml - the BBC again, perhaps?

http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-rights/the-human-rights-act/european-convention-on-human-rights/european-convention-on-human-rights.shtml - Liberty is one long established campaigner - there are others, I am sure

http://www.justice.org.uk 

UnJustIS - http://www.unjustis.co.uk/ - Paul Bantock's excellent site protests the failings of the Law Society and has been running for some years now.  Good links to similar sites and the News section (click here for the latest) shows just how BAD some so-called "Legal Professionals" can be.  A tremendous effort and well worth a visit.  In a related vein...

Rough Justice - http://www.roughjustice.org.uk well written comment and some sound advice based on experience.  Check out the Law Society and the General Advice pages in particular..

FLINT - Families Link - http://www.familieslink.co.uk/pages/issues_profit_justice_solicitors.htm for it's very SIMPLE definition of the problem affecting ALL areas of civil litigation.  Useful for family law problems too.

CASIA - http://www.casiaweb.com/ - Complaints Against Solicitors (action for) Independent Adjudication - a long established action group.  Lots of information and mirrored on AOL - http://members.aol.com/lawawful/OSS.htm 

Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers - http://www.sacl.info/ - impressive rogues gallery, information on the Scottish "regulators" and MUCH more.  Challenged in the courts but growing stronger every time.  A highly professional web site

Ireland -  http://www.crookedlawyers.com/ - many horror stories come from Ireland and (if possible) things seem even worse there.  Their related site http://www.rate-your-solicitor.com/ is in High Court action.  A good links section too.   Interesting article from outside Europe - Canada - the problem is world-wide.

Professional Rogues - ProfRogues - http://www.geocities.com/profrogues/ - a site started on FREE Yahoo (Goecities) web-space with some well written accounts.  The end of the home page (currently) lists 9 Firms you may wish to avoid using, or at least treat with some suspicion.

Solicitors From Hell - http://www.solicitorsfromhell.com/ - NOT to be confused with Rick's site (.co.uk) of the same name - this one has been running for years.  Stacks of hard evidence and (it appears) the Law Society and the Firm Concerned tried very hard to have the site removed.  Another good and well established links section (sorry, you're BOUND to find some duplication on the older sites) and a seeming light-hearted and satirical approach of giving nick-names to the bad guys.  Something of a BLOG.

Darklist - Solicitors From Hell - http://www.solicitorsfromhell.co.uk/ - Rick maintains records of Firms named and shamed by the site's visitors.  Here you can list the rogues who have given bad service and search or browse for local firms - to AVOID.  The site is VERY easy to use and you don't have to register or leave your name.  Well over 100 firms/solicitors listed to date and many of these link to external sites too.

Darklist (and more...) for families - Parents for Protest - http://www.parents4protest.co.uk/p4p/solicitors.htm solicitors to avoid in family matters.  Colin (see below) maintains a copy of the list here.

UK Fathers - A Valuable Resource - http://www.ukfathers.co.uk/ - masses of help and information for parents separated from their children.  Information on bad solicitors and their impact on people.  The site also has forums and Yahoo a discussion group.  Amongst the resources open to the public are the Media Megaphone and the Parliamentary Megaphone.  More about these on the Other Actions page..

Colin Cole - "A Gentleman of the Web" - Colin runs a number of "light hearted" protest sites and encourages others to share the extensive links he has collected.  Colin is a prolific publisher who gaily ridicules every solicitor he has had, and a good many more besides - with some success.  Not for the children, perhaps, but we must respect his Rights of Expression, smile sometimes... and maybe cheer when he hits gold.

Recurring Themes - "From Hell" ... see above and also here.  "Legal Bullies" - see here, here, here and here.

Interesting - Dr. Rita Pal ... http://ritapal.com 

Regulators - First you must complain to the firm.  All firms must operate a complaints handling procedure (according to Practice Rule 15, anyway.  Almost all those who did complain to their solicitors’ practice were unhappy with the way their complaint was dealt with. Nearly three quarters said their complaint wasn’t resolved. Source Which? - try here for a summary if the link is still not working.

Regulators - Next up the Law Society's CCS - After you've been given the brush-off by the Firms internal complaints system you are free to take matters (if your complaint is about a solicitor) to the Law Society.  The department used to be called the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) but, in April 2004, it was re-branded as the Consumer Complaints Service (CCS) - same sh*t, different day?  If you are VERY patient and persistent (bloody minded?) ... here's where... http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/redressscheme.law

Regulators - Complaints against barristers go to the Bar Council

Regulators - Complaints about Legal Executives (Members) go to ILEX - http://www.ilex.org.uk 

Expect long forms, delays, brush-offs and "ignore letters"... from ALL of the above - see next section for some personal testimony.

Regulators - The final step is the Office for the Legal Services Ombudsman - http://www.olso.org/ - supposedly regulating the regulators.  Yeah, right!

Regulators - The Police - deal with criminal matters.  You may find that for solicitor complaints the police will leave matters to the Law Society - there is an MOU between the police and the Law Society.

Regulators - The Courts - According To Lord Donaldson in the Ct. of Appeal "...the Court exercises a supervisory jurisdiction over Solicitors as officers of the Court...".  Good luck!  Regulation factor is typically NIL despite Section 42 of the Access to Justice Act 1999.  The "profession" typically closes ranks - can YOU find someone you can trust to work for you?  Chances are you will end up with complaints against two practitioners or firms.

Regulators - Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal - http://www.solicitorstribunal.org.uk/ - in theory the SDT is "completely independent" and a division of the High Court.  In theory they can accept complaints from the public, though they only received five in 2005 with only 1 making it past first base, and seven in 2006, six of which were dismissed out of hand.   Can you guess who owns the computer system the SDT uses?  Yes, the Law Society.  The Law Society can and DOES interfere with emails to the SDT.  Independent?  No!

How CAN so MANY "regulators" ALL fail?  Why are there so MANY complaints?

Office of the Legal Services Commissioner - http://www.olscc.gov.uk/ - Yes, it's the SAME person as the LSO.  Have fun with their survey here..

News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/381474.stm - 1999 "news" giving the size of the problem THEN - little has changed - read the "unprecedented interim report" from 2003 - indeed, things got much WORSE.

Office - Which? The Consumer Association - some useful help, surveys, reports.  An effective pressure group.  Form the inside only.

Government proposals - http://www.dca.gov.uk/legalsys/lsreform.htm - nearly two years on from the Clementi Review.  Did you know there is a Professional Regulation Branch of the DCA?  Write to them at this address.  Professional Regulation Branch, 3rd floor (3.04), Selborne House, 54 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QW.  Tel: 020 7210 8816, Fax: 020 7210 0613.

When all else fails... from the INSIDE... http://www.echr.coe.int/echr - the ECHR 

H.M. Courts Services website provides LOTS of useful information from Forms and Guidance notes (these are great) to a large dataBase of precedents and judgments.  There's also a very useful (interactive) Court List which can help out with maps, directions, telephone and fax numbers.

The Judicial Studies Board provides the training notes for judges (which REALLY help in understanding and interpreting the Acts, Statutory Instruments etc.)  Check out the Civil Law Bench Book and the other Bench Books (see the "Most Visited Links" under "Publications") for a great para-phrasing of the Civil Procedures Rules (CPR) and much general advice for Judges.

The Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has a wealth of information.  Check out the CPR (and the other Procedural Rules) here.  Note that the CPR is backed by Practice Directions and all are available here.  There's a LOT more to this website... use the dedicated search facilities to find what you need.

This seems useful general advice - http://www.elc.org.uk/pages/lawlips.htm and seems to be taken largely from here http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1343.htm (a more authorative site?)

CLS - Community Legal Services Direct has some good links (maybe?) and you can check out your legal aid status and more.

SWARB - a very useful site with (currently) over 2,300 pages of potentially useful information.  They also run some FORUMS which are probably a "must" for any serious LIP - ask questions and get some free advice - just be careful what you do with it ;-)

In a similar vein (possibly) to SWARB - http://www.venables.co.uk/individtopics.htm 

Legal Costs - http://www.wigg.co.uk/1.htm 

A couple more ... http://www.bailii.org/databases.html#ew and http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/ and see the Research Page.

http://www.troublesover.co.uk - More help on Family Issues and for LIP's