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Foreign & Comparative Law Research Guide

Introduction

What is foreign law? It is the national (also referred to as domestic or internal) law of any country other than the United States and usually refers to constitutions, legislation, and cases. Foreign law has no effect outside the foreign jurisdiction, but it may regulate foreign entities within state boundaries. Comparative law is "the study of the similarities and differences between the laws of two or more countries, or between two or more legal systems. Comparative law is not itself a system of law or a body of rules, but rather a method or approach to legal inquiry." (Berring, How to Find the Law Williams KF240 .C5383 1989, 9th ed., p. 565).

Access to foreign law varies greatly among legal systems. Governments may or may not publish their legal materials and any published materials may be woefully out of date. American legal researchers often have to adjust their expectations with regard to current law and English language availability. Most researchers want foreign laws in English and this is often not possible. Typically, foreign governments do not provide "official" English translations of their statues or cases. The internet has certainly broadened access to legal resources on foreign government web sites, but these materials are usually in the local language. This guide will provide strategies for locating translations. Materials marked with Try-It are recommended and have been very useful to the librarians.

Research methods will vary depending on the country you are researching. When beginning to research a legal system, you will want to consider the following:

  • Identify what you need
    • Do you need a constitution, a specific statute, a case, or general information?
    • Do you have a citation to the law, case, etc.?
    • What are the dates?
    • Do you need the complete text of the law, a summary, an English translation, or a detailed explanation?
    • Will an electronic version be sufficient?
  • Identify the sources of law for the country
    • Does the country publish codes, compilations of statutes or reporters?
    • A good source for gathering this information is the Foreign Law Guidedatabase.
    • Once you have identified a source, check the library catalog or other bibliographic databases to determine if the item is available.
    • The sections in this guide on Legislation, Case Law and Other Sources of Law discuss sources and strategies for finding primary law.
  • Understand the structure of the foreign legal system
    • Is it a civil law system based on codes, a common law system (such as the United States) or a mixed system? Some legal systems are influenced by religious law. See the World Legal Systems site for a quick way to determine the type of legal system for a particular country.
    • You may not need to become an expert on the legal system of the country, but it is very helpful to know the basics. It is also sometimes necessary or useful to have general background information on the country.
    • The sections on Foreign Legal Systems and Country Background Information will give you suggested research sources.
  • Use a secondary source
    • A secondary source, such as a journal article or a book, can help you at any stage of your research.
    • Secondary sources may describe the law or legal issue, provide a citation or include commentary. See the section on Periodical Literature in this guide for more help.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Wolff International & Comparative Law Library reference desk at 202-662-4195 or by email: intlref@law.georgetown.edu. You may also submit your question via this online form.

Foreign Legal Systems: General Sources

These sources will give you an overview of the legal system of a particular country. To locate more resources, search the online catalog (try our NEW catalog interface) using keywords and jurisdiction term. For example, < introduction swiss > or < legal research australia .> For resources on a more specific topic, try < "intellectual property" china > or < divorce india. >

  • Foreign Law Guide database - (Georgetown Law only)
    This database includes a brief legal-historical overview at the beginning of each jurisdiction. The Major Publications section within each jursidiction will provide the names of gazettes, reporters, and consolidated codes.
  • International Lawyer's Deskbook, 2nd edition, INTL K48 .I57 2003, edited by Lucinda A. Low, Daniel M. Drory, Patrick Norton.
    A compact discussion arranged by subject (secured transactions, environment, customs, immigration, and many more) with sources provided at the end of each chapter.
  • Legal Traditions of the World Sustainable Diversity in Law, INTL K559 .G545 2007, by Patrick H. Glenn.
    This work discusses the history and concepts of the major legal traditions. Civil, common, and religious systems are examined.
  • Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia INTL K530 .M62 1984 (updated looseleaf)
    If you can't find the country you are researching in other sources, Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia will most likely have it. Some of the information is dated.
  • Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest (Georgetown Law Only)
    The print version has been discontinued but it is available on Lexis at Legal > Find Laws by Country or Region > Search International Law Digests. The digest provides summaries of major areas of law and sometimes gives a statutory citation. This is a good starting point for a quick introduction.
  • Germain's Transnational Law Research INTL REF K85.G47 1991. (updated regularly)
    Chapters are arranged by major subject areas or by jurisdiction with a focus on Europe.

Legislation

There are generally two approaches to looking for foreign law - by jurisdiction or by subject. If you are looking for a specific piece of legislation, first try the Foreign Law Guide database. It is particularly useful because it contains a section of law arranged by subject for each country. Simply select your jurisdiction and browse the subject headings. Government web sites usually provide legislation on their web sites and sometimes there are English translations of important or business-related areas. Be persistent when searching for legislation on foreign government web sites. If the parliamentary web site has nothing, try the government ministry that may be responsible for your area of law. For instance, we have found AIDS legislation on the Health ministry's web site and banking laws on a finance ministry web site. Many foreign government web sites have some pages in English (look for a small British flag), but it is less comprehensive in coverage.

Country research guides (see "Research Guides on Individual Countries" at the end of this guide), may not provide guidance for all specific laws, but will provide information on compilations of laws or specific codes. Be sure to also look for subject compilations that group together, for example, laws on copyright. You may want to consider using both approaches - jurisdictional and subject matter - in your research.

There are many English language compilations of foreign legislation, especially in the areas of taxation, trade, commercial and business law. Other areas of law may not have readily available English language translations. Looseleaf services (marked "updated regularly" in this guide) and journals can be a fruitful source for English translations. When using English translations (especially on the internet) , keep in mind that they must be used with caution. Usually, they are not authoritative, they may not be up-to-date, and quality of the translation may vary.

Multi-Jurisdictional Resources

  • Foreign Law Guide database (Georgetown Law Only) Try-It
    The primary source for information on the sources of law for many foreign jurisdictions. It provides the researcher with relevant information on sources of foreign law, including complete bibliographic citations to legislation, the existence of English translations whenever possible, and selected references to secondary sources in English. Each jurisdiction also has an Internet Sources section.
  • GLIN - Global Legal Information Network (Georgetown Law only)
    GLIN is a project of the Library of Congress which includes citations and some full text laws for many countries. Searches are conducted in English, but full text laws are from the official gazettes and will be in the official language of the jurisdiction.
  • vLex Global - NEW (Georgetown Law only)
    This database searches almost 100 jurisdictions for case law, legislation and other legal resources. Note: only one user at a time.
  • World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII) Try-It
    The wealth of information here is maintained collaboratively by several legal research institutes around the world. We suggest clicking on "All Countries" on the left side and then selecting your jurisdiction. For many countries, there are legislation and case law databases, but also try links listed under subject or legislation. If still no success, try to locate the main governmental pages and start checking the relevant ministry web site. Worldlii has legal information from 86 countries. Note: the Worldlii web site has been very very slow. Be patient as the information here is great.
Specific Jurisdiction

By Subject

Many web sites and print publications provide subject compilations of national legislation. This selective list of online and print resources highlights some of the more frequently researched areas.

  • Commercial and Tax Laws of the World RIA Database (Georgetown Law only)
    Be sure to select "international" in the practice area box on the left and select Worldwide Tax and Commercial Law "primary source materials". Then search by country name.
  • Comparative Environmental Law and Regulation (updated regularly) INTL 3585.4.C66 1997
  • Criminal Law Resources on the Internet
    Covers U.S. states and approximately 20 foreign jurisdictions.
  • Gender Law Library
    This is a project of the World Bank and includes foreign legislation concerning maternity, equal pay, property rights, inheritance, and other topics.
  • ECOLEX: A Gateway to Environmental Law
    This wonderful database has a deep collection of environmental legislation,including water, agriculture, energy, land, waste, air, fisheries, plants, waste and much more. Try the advanced search screen for more targeted research.
  • Foreign Trade Information System (OAS)
    click the Disciplines tab to find national laws on antidumping, competition, electronic commerce, intellectual property, and investment from OAS member countries. Most are in Spanish, but sometimes there are English translations available.
  • FAOLEX (FAO)
    The is a subset of the ECOLEX database and has food and agriculture laws.
  • International Encyclopedia of Laws databases (Georgetown Law only)
    This series of individual databases covers the following areas: civil procedure, constitutional law, environmental, intellectual property, labor,and social security. This source doesn't not usually have specific statutes, but it has useful chapters organized by country that explain and summarize the law.
  • Legislationline (OSCE)
    Covers a variety of topics: human trafficking, gender, elections, terrorism, citizenship, migration, freedom of information, freedom of assembly, etc. Some translated laws available, but it varies by jurisdiction.
  • NATLEX (ILO)
    Covers labor law, social security and related human rights legislation.
  • Refworld
    This collection of documents and materials includes much more than refugee and asylum topics. We've found the Mongolian criminal code, Yemeni law on passports, and much more. Select a country on the left pull-down menu, click "go," then select legal information. From there, select "national legislative bodies" and a list of available legislation will be displayed.
  • Westlaw (Georgetown Law only) has a few country databases addressing specific subjects such as insurance, arbitration, and environmental. Look at the resources listed from the Directory page under International/Worldwide Materials for more information.
  • World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
    The Collection of Laws database has copyright, patent, trademark and other related legislation and regulations for many countries. The documents are often translated into English. Database is searchable across jurisdictions.

Case Law

Foreign case law can be more challenging to locate than foreign legislation and English translations are more elusive. In many countries, court decisions are not considered primary law and there may not be any official publication of decisions. Also, in some countries, only the country's highest court will issue its decisions. Most courts have some web presence, but coverage, dates, and text availability vary greatly among jurisdictions. Periodicals and journals may be the best source for decisions--in fact, in many countries, legal periodicals act as unofficial sources for case decisions. Periodicals can also be used to find case summaries and citations to new case law.

If you have a citation to a foreign decision and cannot decipher the abbreviation for the case reporter, use one of the sources listed below in the section "Dictionaries and Abbreviations."

Below are selected print and electronic sources for foreign case law.

Other Sources of Law

Secondary legislation, regulations and administrative decisions are often requested and they are very difficult to locate. These sources may be even more elusive than statutory law and case law. Start by using the sources mentioned in the above sections. Secondary sources may be another way to track down relevant sources. If a country publishes an official gazette (as most civil law systems do), you have a better chance of locating regulations, notices, circulars, etc. See the "Major Publications" section for the country in Foreign Law Guide for more information and try searching the GLIN database referenced above. Sometimes, regulations are available on the relevant ministry of the particular government, especially if you are looking for investment, banking, or other business related topics. You may want to check with a reference librarian for more help locating this type of law.

Citing to Foreign Law

Consult The Bluebook INTL REF KF245 .U5 2005, Rule 20 and Table 2, for assistance with citing to foreign law. Rule 20 provides the general guidelines and Table 2 lists the sources for individual jurisdictions. Unfortunately, not all jurisdictions are listed in Table 2, so follow the general guidelines noted in Rule 20. To locate legal abbreviations, consult Index to legal citations and Abbreviations INTL REF K85 .R3 2008, Noble's Revised International Guide to the Law Reports INTL REF K38 .N63 1998, or other sources of abbreviations mentioned below.

Periodical Literature

Journal articles can be very useful when researching foreign law. It is a good way to obtain background information or possibly locate the text of a foreign law. We encourage you to seek articles beyond Westlaw and Lexis by searching our European journal databases. For best results, you may need to search both full text databases as well as periodical indexes. We have two additional research guides, Locating Journal Articles: Foreign & International and Using Articles for Legal & Non-Legal Research, that may be of interest to you.

If you already have a citation and would like to read the article, simply type the journal name as a title search in the library catalog. The results will tell you if we have print, electronic, or both. Be sure to check coverage dates or volume numbers to determine if your particular volume or issue is available. If the library does not have the journal article, you may request the article through interlibrary loan and we will ask another library to make a photocopy. Locating older journal articles (pre-1990 or so) can be more challenging.

The law library has a several journal databases that are not necessarily law related. You may need to search here for interdisciplinary topics such as women, economics, medical ethics, human rights, or public health. Ask a reference librarian for more information.

Below are listed a few of the most commonly used journal databases for foreign legal research.

  • Cambridge Journals Online (Georgetown Law only)
    This full-text database offers both legal and non-legal journals published by Cambridge University. We suggest using advanced searching and you can limit by selecting "law" from the subject list. Titles include Cambridge Law Journal, Journal of African Law, World Trade Review, Legal Theory, and much more.
  • Kluwer Law International Journals (Georgetown Law only)
    Full-text journals (from the mid-1990s forward ) with a business and trade focus are available here. Older issues of these titles are available on HeinOnline. Titles include European Business Law Review, International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, Intertax. Click here for a complete list.
  • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (Georgetown Law only) Try-It
    English keyword searching of over 450 foreign law journals. There is no full-text, but you can email the citations to yourself and then search the library catalog for the journal title. This is the best resource to search for foreign language legal journal articles.
  • Legal Journals Index (Georgetown Law only)
    This indexes over 320 journal article from the United Kingdom and Europe. It is not full-text. LJI is also on Westlaw (LJI) which will provide links to the full text if that particular journal is available on Westlaw.
  • Legal Periodicals and Books (Georgetown Law only)
    Comprehensive citation (not full-text) coverage of nearly 1000 English language law reviews and books from 1982 to the present. This is not full-text, but more articles are indexed here than on Westlaw or Lexis. For older articles, try Legal Periodicals and Books Retrospective (1918-1981).
  • LegalTrac (Georgetown Law only)
    This is a similar index (also not full-text) to Legal Periodicals and Books. Coverage begins in 1981 and indexes articles from about 875 publications and law related articles from 1,000 business and general interest periodicals. Again, Westlaw and Lexis do not usually provide access to articles prior to the early 1990s.
  • Oxford Journals Online (Georgetown Law only)
    Full-text database of both legal and non-legal journals published by Oxford University. You can limit to a particular journal or to the subject law. Journal titles include Chinese Journal of International Law, International Journal of Law and Information Technology, International Journal of Transitional Justice, American Law and Economics Review, and much more.

Country Background Information

Often you will need other information about a country, such as its GDP, its political leaders, literacy rates, etc. There are many electronic and print sources for this information.

  • Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) (Georgetown Law only)
    Detailed reports on a country's economy, commerce, finances and other related information.
  • Country Watch (Georgetown Law only)
    Information on the social, political and economic situation in many countries.
  • The CIA World Factbook
    Information on geography, people, government, economy, military and other topics for the countries of the world.
  • The Statesman's Year-Book INTL REF JA51.S7
  • The World Almanac & Book of Facts INTL REF AY67.N5 W7
  • Europa World database (Georgetown Law only)
    This replaces the print Europa World Year Book and provides economic and political information for over 250 countries and territories.

Dictionaries and Abbreviations

The reference collection in the Wolff and Williams libraries includes many foreign-language dictionaries covering legal, business and general topics. To find one you need, search the library catalog or ask a reference librarian. We also have many sources for deciphering foreign legal abbreviations. This can be very useful when you have a citation, but are not familiar with the abbreviation. Below is a sampling of resources.

Foreign Language Dictionaries

Language
Legal Dictionary
 General Dictionary
French

Dahl's Law Dictionary
INTL REF K52.F7 D35 2007

The Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary Electronic Version (2001)
Print - Williams REF PC2640.O83 2001

German

Dictionary of Legal, Commercial, and Political Terms
INTL REF K52.G4 D54 2000

Collins German-English, English-German Dictionary
Williams REF PF3640.C68 2004

Oxford-Duden German Dictionary
Electronic
Spanish

English/Spanish and Spanish/English Legal Dictionary
INTL REF K52.S6 K36 2008

Collins Spanish-English, English-Spanish Dictionary
Williams REF PC4640.C53 2004

Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary (1998)
Electronic
Russian

Russian-English Legal Dictionary
INTL REF K52.R8 B878 2001

Oxford Russian Dictionary
INTL REF PG2640.W5 1993

Multi-Language

Elsevier's Legal Dictionary in English, German, French, Dutch, and Spanish
INTL K54 .E45 2001

See dictionary for individual language. Try keyword searching in the online catalog such as < dictionary italian >

Abbreviations Dictionaries

  • Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations INTL REF KF246.B46 2009
    Although heavily U.S. based, this dictionary includes many U.K. and Commonwealth abbreviations.
  • Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
    This is a quick first web source to check if you have a citation to a foreign case reporter, but can't decipher the abbreviation (e.g. AIR = All India Reporter). Search by abbreviation or by title.
  • Index to legal citations and Abbreviations INTL REF K85 .R3 2008 Try-It
    This is one of the best publications to consult for an unfamiliar citation as it has good foreign and international coverage.
  • World Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations INTL REF K89.K38 1991 (updated regularly)
    This is a comprehensive source, but it is organized by country. You'll need to know the jurisdiction of the citation to use this resource.

Research Guides: Individual Country Research & General Guides

This research guide covers general sources for foreign and comparative law research and offers research strategies. It does not discuss the legal system of any one particular jurisdiction. The law librarians have created research guides for the following areas: Canada, Asia, France, Germany, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Scotland.

There are many other research guides available online that cover individual foreign jurisdictions. Finding one may be the next step in your research. The links below all connect to pages listing research guides from other institutions for individual foreign jurisdictions.

Here are three additional research guides on foreign and comparative law generally:


Revised 7/09 (MMS)

Page last saved 24-Nov-2009