Its parent body is the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of Court.

Its law collections cover the legal systems of the British Isles (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and also Commonwealth countries.

[3] In 1707 the Inner Temple was offered the Petyt Manuscripts (William Petyt had been Keeper of the Records in the Tower, and a well-known writer of constitutional law)[4] and a sum of £150 to build a new Library, which was completed in 1709 and consisted of three rooms.

[10] The building was destroyed during the Second World War: several thousand volumes of printed books (but none of the manuscripts) were lost.

[16] The Library is not open to the public, though non-members may be admitted, upon written application to the Librarian, to consult material not available elsewhere.