Library Guides: Research Guide: Foreign and International Law: Researching Foreign Law

How to Start

1. Start with a Guide

In most cases, you should start with a guide (typically written by a librarian or a local attorney). There are subject-specific guides that describe or summarize the laws of each country in a particular area of law. There are also more general guides that provide background information about a particular country's legal system and sources of law (legislative codes, judicial opinions, etc.), and describe how to find relevant primary and secondary material in print and online.

2. Consult Secondary Sources

If, after consulting a guide, you don't have enough information to find the primary sources you need, the next step is to locate secondary sources like encyclopedia sections, treatises, books, or journal articles that cover the particular topic. A research guide may reference secondary sources. Searching the OSU Libraries Catalog or journal databases may also lead to promising secondary sources. For more details about searching the library catalog for books and journal databases for articles, consult the tab to the left titled Finding Books and Articles.

3. Locate Primary Law

Based on references in research guides and other secondary sources, locate applicable primary law. Searching a primary law database directly may also produce relevant material.

Guides to Foreign Law Research

Popular and reliable guides include:

GlobaLex Link opens in new window
An electronic legal publication with international, foreign, and comparative law research tools. For best results, always view the "UPDATE" link next to the relevant guide.

Library of Congress Guide to Law Online - Nations of the World
Links to free online legal sources by country

Several law libraries have created their own guides to foreign law research, which may refer to GlobaLex and the Library of Congress guides, and may also link to individual library webpages for researching that country's laws.

Consulting Secondary Sources

Use these secondary sources to help you better understand the foreign law and to point you towards primary sources.

Kluwer Law Online International Encyclopaedia of Laws Link opens in new window
Series of encyclopedias of foreign and international law covering 25 fields of law. Each encyclopedia contains country-by-country monographs. Select "Encyclopaedias" from menu options at top of the screen to access titles in the series.
Kluwer Arbitration Practice Plus Link opens in new window
Platform for international arbitration research. Includes primary sources such as treaties, legislation, articles of conventions, as well as expert commentary such as books and journals.
Kluwer IP Law Link opens in new window
Platform for foreign and international IP law research. Includes case law, news and legislation relating to industrial law, patent law, copyright and trademark law.

Multinational Sources Compared by Alena L. Wolotira; Sherry L. Leysen
Index to foreign law guides and books collecting foreign laws on specific topics. Browse or search by country or subject.
Guide to International Legal Research by George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics
Browse by topic or subject to find books, websites, and other resources for foreign and international legal research.

Bloomberg, Westlaw, and Lexis have a substantial amount of secondary legal materials, though what is included varies by country.

Bloomberg Law International Resources
For foreign law summaries by country, consult Country Surveys from Getting the Deal Through (GTDT) for your practice area.
Westlaw Practical Law Global
Browse by practice area or country
Westlaw International Materials
Provides links to various jurisdictions and content types, including secondary sources such as treatises and journals.
Lexis+ International
To access foreign and international materials, select the "International" tab in the "Explore Content" section. Materials are organized by Country and Region, as well as by Content Type, and including Secondary Materials.

Locating Primary Law

Constitutions:

HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated Link opens in new window
Current constitutions for every country, constitutional histories, texts on constitutional law, links to scholarly articles about constitutional development and a bibliography of selected constitutional books. Searchable by country or resource.
Oxford Constitutional Law Link opens in new window
Oxford Constitutions of the World includes English translations and background materials for over 400 countries and sub-national jurisdictions worldwide. Includes access to the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law.

Constitute
Freely available site to read, search, and compare nations’ constitutions

Case Law:

ICLR Online Link opens in new window
Online platform covering case law from the Superior and Appellate Courts in England and Wales.
vLexJustis Link opens in new window
Full-text library of UK case law (1855-present) and legislation (1235-present). Includes updated materials for common law jurisdictions, including Canada and Australia, as well as the Times Law Reports, English Reports, and International Law Reports.

EUR-Lex
Principal website for EU treaties, directives, regulations, decisions, court judgments, and other documents

Other materials:

Global-Regulation Link opens in new window
Global-Regulation is a searchable database of indexed regulatory case studies in a variety of industries, fields, topics and countries. Includes regulations and laws from 41 countries and translates laws into English using machine translation.

Free Sources of Primary Law in Major Foreign Common Law Jurisdictions

Canada

Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) - user-friendly database of Canadian federal and provincial cases, statutes, and regulations.
Justice Laws website - Canadian government site providing access to federal statutes and regulations

United Kingdom

British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) - provides access to cases and legislation from the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as the European Union
legislation.gov.uk - UK government website providing access to acts and statutory instruments for the United Kingdom including England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland

Australia

Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) - provides access to cases and legislation from Australia and New Zealand
Federal Register of Legislation - Australian government site providing access to acts and other legislative instruments

Books on Foreign Legal Research

International and Foreign Legal Research by Marci Hoffman; Mary Rumsey
Call Number: K85 .H64 2012
ISBN: 9789004204805
Publication Date: 2012-04-19
Legal Research Methods in a Modern World by J. Paul Lomio; Henrik Spang-Hanssen; George D. Wilson
Call Number: K85 .L66 2011
ISBN: 9788757424676
Publication Date: 2011-02-01
The Practical Guide to Canadian Legal Research by Nancy McCormack
Call Number: KE250 .M26 2015
ISBN: 9780779864997
Publication Date: 2015

Historical Foreign Law Databases

Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, 1600-1970 Link opens in new window
Digital collection of historical legal codes, statutes, regulations and commentaries on codes from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other northern European countries. Includes important sources of historical statutes and regulations for the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland.
Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law, 1600-1926 Link opens in new window
Digital collection of treatises and other works covering foreign, comparative and international law including Roman, Islamic, Jewish and Ancient law texts. Search for individual titles in the library’s catalog by title, subject or keyword.