Example prompts.
Paste any of these into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex once openlaw-mcp is installed. They exercise the tools where AI grounding makes the biggest difference — exact statute text, point-in-time lookups, paragraph-precise judgment quotes, FCA rule resolution, fresh ICO and HMRC material.
Information, not legal advice.
openlaw-mcp surfaces text from official UK and EU open-law sources. The information returned is for research and information only and does not constitute legal advice. Always verify against the authoritative source URL returned with each response before relying on it. For legal advice, instruct a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction.
lookup_statuteQuote subsection (1) of section 1 of the UK Bribery Act 2010 verbatim, with a link to the legislation.gov.uk source.
Why this works: Verbatim quoting is where chatbots hallucinate most. Returns the exact CLML XML text plus the as-enacted vs in-force flags.
lookup_statuteWhat did section 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018 say as in force on 25 May 2018? Use legislation.gov.uk's point-in-time view.
Why this works: Point-in-time. No other tool does this reliably — model training data is frozen, plain web search returns the current version.
grep_judgmentIn R (Miller) v The Prime Minister [2019] UKSC 41, find every paragraph that mentions 'sovereignty' and quote each one in full.
Why this works: Paragraph-precision quoting with Akoma Ntoso eId references. Makes pinpoint citations possible.
search_caselawFind UK Supreme Court judgments from 2024 onwards that consider Article 8 of the ECHR.
Why this works: Up-to-date case discovery. Returns neutral citations and Find Case Law URLs the user can click through.
citator_liteList judgments published on Find Case Law that cite Pepper v Hart [1992] UKHL 3.
Why this works: Forward citation lookup — useful for tracing how a key authority has been applied since.
search_fca_handbookGive me the official handbook.fca.org.uk deep link for SYSC 4.1.1R.
Why this works: FCA Handbook URL slugs are not memorisable. The tool resolves the canonical reference deterministically.
search_ico_guidanceFind recent ICO enforcement actions (monetary penalty notices and enforcement notices) issued in 2025.
Why this works: Compliance teams need fresh enforcement signals; the ICO publishes them, but the listings page is not search-engine friendly.
fetch_hmrc_manualFrom the HMRC Business Income Manual, fetch the section on the badges of trade (BIM20205).
Why this works: HMRC manuals are authoritative for tax practice. The Content API is structured and stable.
fetch_eurlexFetch CELEX 32016R0679 (the GDPR) and return Article 5 in full with the EUR-Lex source URL.
Why this works: GDPR is in every model's training set, but quoting the official EUR-Lex text avoids slow training-data drift.
fetch_hudocPull the full English text of the ECHR judgment in Bărbulescu v Romania (Application 61496/08).
Why this works: HUDOC's interface is hostile to scripted access; the MCP server handles suppression rules and Court-authored language filters.
format_oscolaFormat 'Uber BV v Aslam, 2021 Supreme Court, UKSC 5' in OSCOLA and produce a working Find Case Law URL.
Why this works: Style consistency. Pure local computation — no network call, instant response.
When MCP shines — and when it doesn't.
Strongest payoff: verbatim text, point-in-time lookups, FCA deep- link resolution, recent ICO/HMRC publications. Marginal payoff: quoting a famous paragraph from a landmark judgment. No payoff: purely conceptual questions ("explain the difference between FCA and PRA") — answer those without tool calls.