Database via the Net

Home secretary Jack Straw and the president of the Immigration Appeals Tribunal, Judge David Pearl, have launched an Internet-based database, The Electronic Immigration Network (EIN). The directory, which is run by an independent board, headed by Immigration Advisory Service director Keith Best, includes all immigration tribunal decisions from September 1997 and a further 300 significant earlier cases. The full text of the cases is included plus case summaries and digests supplied by legal publishers. EIN permits searching by date, appellant or respondent, names, keywords, judge or adjudicator, case number and decision. The system can be reached at www.ein.org.uk at a cost of between £50 and £200 for the voluntary sector, £150 upwards for firms with up to four practitioners and £400 for larger practices.