If you’ve been reading about the Bailii funding issue? we’ve just received a clearer picture of the situation from them ..
We learn from them the following
A) The Society for Computers & Law is not “currently in a position to provide funding to BAILII, but has stated that it remains supportive of BAILII and will review the situation if circumstances change.”?
B) The Law Society Charity has provided funding to BAILII for 2011, but has indicated that it may be unable to continue to provide funding to BAILII thereafter;
BAILII then say that they? hope that the Law Society “may” be able to continue to provide funding to BAILII in some other manner.
And we also? learn that their? contract with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service under which BAILII receives payments from Government sources continues until March 2012; ?BAILII hopes that it will be renewed but there is no guarantee that this will happen.
So all in all it looks fairly bleak? each of those statements doesn’t actually provide much future hope for funding from these sources. As we’ve suggested before at HOB it’s the law firms who should support Bailii even if by doing so? it only provides a defense mechanism against the major legal publishers.
