International Law Book Facility

10/02/2026

From the heart of the UK legal community to universities and courts across the globe, the ILBF is turning the page on access to legal knowledge. In this update, ILBF Shipping Coordinator Laiba Choudhury shares details of our latest shipments, including a collaboration with the Civil Development Organisation (CDO) and Africa House London to deliver books to the Sulaymaniyah Appellate Court, Halabja University and the University of Sulaimani

https://ilbf.org.uk/2026/02/ilbf-expands-global-reach-with-law-book-donations/

From the heart of the UK’s legal community to universities and courts across the globe, the ILBF is turning the page on access to legal knowledge.

19/12/2025

*2025 in review*

Our 20th anniversary year has been a fantastic year of celebration, collaboration and change.

We have shipped 4,000 books to 16 organisations in 13 countries. This brings the total in 20 years to nearly 100,000 books shipped to more than 300 organisations in 63 countries. Our mission to support the rule of law with printed legal resources remains as robust as ever; future shipments are already in train for the start of 2026.

Throughout the year we have had unstinting support from our partners, as well as law firms, barristers’ chambers, in-house lawyers, the courts, law students, legal publishers and law librarians. We are immensely grateful to everyone who has assisted us this year in our mission. In the summer, the team at the RCJ held another successful cake sale, and Ben Yallop braved all manner of extremes to raise money for the ILBF.

The impact of the books continues unabated as vital printed resources to support legal studies, inform judgments, and increase knowledge and understanding are shared with our partners overseas. The year started with our first shipment to Ukraine, and finished in December with shipments to South Sudan, Iraq and Ethiopia. Thanks to our Latin American representative, Franz Mariscal, and the legal team at Anglo American, we have shipped to two universities in Argentina, our 63rd country.

Our 2025 essay competition for law undergraduates, launched by Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, the Lady Chief Justice, generated a record number of entries and produced a very worthy winner, Sean Xue. Sean enjoyed a week’s work experience with competition sponsor Brown Rudnick. The responses to the question we set showed how committed law undergraduates are to the rule of law and its future.

The 20th anniversary event in May at Clifford Chance was a marvellous celebration with partners, funders, and volunteers, with the Lady Chief Justice and our founder patron Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd in attendance to celebrate with us.

2025 also brought our very first judicial and law librarian guests from Nigeria and Sierra Leone to London to visit key law libraries at the RCJ, Inner Temple, Lincoln’s Inn, and Herbert Smith Freehills, as well as the chance to meet the teams at LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters. The visit built on the excellent online training from BIALL volunteers in May. The partnership with Africa House London and the UK Sierra Leone Pro Bono Committee, and financial and technical assistance from A4ID and ROLE UK made all of this possible.

In September, Laiba Choudhury took over from Haroon Matloob as shipping coordinator for 2025-2026. In the autumn term, law students at the University of Cambridge and the University of Nottingham packed books for Argentina and Kenya. Laiba will soon be working with new university groups at UCL and the University of Surrey.

The year ends with our new Chief Executive Katherine Eden Haig taking over from Katrina Crossley. We are looking forward to working with Katherine and building on 20 years of success in the decades to come.

You can watch a short film of highlights from our 20th anniversary year here: https://youtu.be/Thj_QELv-5s

Our thanks to the recipients of books in Ukraine, Ecuador, Sierra Leone, Jamaica, Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, Kwara State Nigeria, Iraq, Uganda and South Sudan for sharing their photos with us.

With all good wishes for the festive season and the new year to come from the trustees, patrons and operating committee.

Sign up to our newsletter for more updates: https://ilbf.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=04e29b446684934ec3798e384&id=35ebe8a237

15/12/2025

After two decades of remarkable service, Katrina Crossley is stepping down as CEO of the ILBF. She leaves behind a legacy defined by dedication, partnership, and a profound commitment to improving access to justice across the world.

Since 2005, Katrina has been instrumental in driving the ILBF’s mission: helping ship almost 100,000 legal books to over 285 organisations in 63 countries. Her leadership brought together publishers, law students, volunteers, funders and partners across the rule-of-law community. She built long-standing collaborations, secured critical funding, supported future legal professionals, and ensured donated resources reached even the most remote locations.

Katrina’s leadership and passion for the rule of law have made a lasting impact on legal communities globally. Thank you, Katrina, for everything you have done for the ILBF.

We wish you all the best in your future endeavours and look forward to building on your legacy in the years ahead.

Since the International Law Book Facility’s launch in 2005, Katrina Crossley has been at the heart of its mission to improve access to justice through the donation of legal books worldwide. After almost two decades of remarkable service, including 9 years as Chief Executive Officer, Katrina is now...

24/10/2025

With support from A4ID - Advocates for International Development’s ROLE UK (Rule of Law Expertise) Programme and UK Aid Direct, the AFRICA HOUSE LONDON, the UK Sierra Leone Pro Bono Network and the International Law Book Facility (ILBF) hosted a week-long visit to London for law librarians from Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The programme built on the successful visit earlier this year and focused on strengthening law libraries through collaboration, training, and knowledge exchange.

The visiting librarians—Abubakar Abubakar Karofi (Federal Capital Territory High Court), David Gbangaima (Judiciary of Sierra Leone), and Patricia Conteh (University of Sierra Leone)—spent time with peers at the Inner Temple Library, Royal Courts of Justice Library, The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn's Library, LexisNexis UK, and Thomson Reuters, exploring the evolving role of law libraries in supporting access to justice and the rule of law.

Read more about the visit here: https://ilbf.org.uk/2025/10/law-librarians-visit-london-from-nigeria-and-sierra-leone/

A huge thank you to everyone who gave their time and expertise to make this visit such a success.

The visit to London in May by Nigerian and Sierra Leonean judges and law librarians was a great success. Thanks to financial assistance from the Rule of Law Expertise Programme (ROLE UK), managed by Advocates for International Development (A4ID), and UK Aid, we were able to host, from 12–17 Octobe...

24/09/2025

The ILBF is excited to welcome its new Shipping Coordinator, Laiba Choudhury, who is currently studying at the University of Surrey. Find out more about Laiba and her new role in our latest blog post.

https://ilbf.org.uk/2025/09/introducing-laiba-choudhury-our-new-shipping-coordinator/

In this Q&A, we introduce the ILBF community to Laiba Choudhury, our new Shipping Coordinator. Laiba is a law student at the University of Surrey. She will be working as ILBF’s Shipping Coordinator for the rest of the academic year.

14/07/2025

From essay to experience — what happens when ideas open doors to the profession?

As winner of the ILBF Law Undergraduate Essay Competition for 2025, Sean Xue spent a week with our competition sponsor, Brown Rudnick LLP, gaining first-hand insight into the people, the work, and the practice of law within their London litigation team.

Read Sean's reflection on the experience here: https://ilbf.org.uk/2025/07/from-essay-to-experience-sean-xues-week-at-brown-rudnick/

Sean Xue, winner of the ILBF law undergraduate essay competition 2025, recently completed his prize of a week’s work experience with competition sponsor, Brown Rudnick. In this article, Sean shares his experience.