guides > international law > abbreviations

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

International and foreign legal research means deciphering an alphabet soup.  Below are a few sources which are generally useful in solving pesky abbreviations problems. A general approach to finding the meaning of an abbreviation is to look in the source you found the abbreviation in first (a full title or name might have been indicated in an earlier footnote or there might be a table of abbreviations at the beginning of the book or periodical). Then try Bieber's (see below). Other sources to try are periodical indexes, an index of acronyms for organizations, a legal research guide, or an abbreviations list or dictionary for legal terms from a particular country. Searching full text law reviews (or case law) on Lexis or Westalw is another good way to determine the meaning of an abbreviation. 

Important Tools

1. Bieber, Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations (Prince ed., 5th ed., Buffalo, NY: Hein, 2001) [INTL REF & Williams KF246 .B46 1993].  Also available on Lexis. The older edition of Bieber's can also be useful. 

2. Osmanczyk, The Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Relations (2nd ed., NY: Taylor & Francis, 1990) [INTL REF KZ4968 .O8213 1990].

3. Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (London: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; Chicago: American Association of Law Libraries, 1960-). [INTL REF KF8 .I35] or through the Law Library web site - GULC only. 

4. Raistrick, Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations (2nd ed., Abingdon, Oxon: Professional Books, 1993) [INTL REF K85 .R3 1993]. 

5. Kavass, World Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations (Buffalo, NY: Hein, 1991-) [INTL REF K89 .K38 1991]. Covers various languages and subjects.

6. The Bluebook: A Uniform Style of Citations (17th ed., Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law Review Association, 2000) [INTL REF & Williams KF245 .U5 2000]. 

7. Szladits, A Bibliography on Foreign and Comparative Law: Books and Articles in English (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1995-) [INTL K520 .S9]. 

8. Acronyms and Abbreviations Covering the United Nations Systems and Other International Organizations (NY: UN, 1981) [INTL REF KZ4969 .T47].

9.  Acronyms, Initialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary (Detroit, MI: Gale, 1976-) [INTL REF & Williams P365 .A28]. 

10.  Noble's Revised International Guide to the Law Reports (Etobicoke, Ont. : Nicol Island Pub., 1998) [INTL REF K38 .N63 1998].  Especially good for case reporters. 

11. Law Reports Searchable by Abbreviation or Title

Revised August 2005

Next - Terms & Phrases