Foreign and Comparative Law Basics

Use research guides at the beginning of your foreign law research. They list and link primary and secondary sources. They may include descriptions of legal and government systems, may include free sources, and may include suggestions for search strategies. For research guides from other law schools that include subscription database links, check the lists of subscription databases for Emory Law Library and for Emory Woodruff Library. 

Research guides focusing on foreign law include:

• Foreign Law Guide (subscription database): Entries by jurisdiction include legal history and descriptions of the country’s government and legal institutions, as well as sources for legal research. Find statutes listed by subject with citations, sometimes with links or with English translation sources. 
• Law Library of Congress Guide to Law Online: The guide for each country is arranged by branches of government and includes links to legislatures, gazettes, codes, courts, and ministries, as well as to legal research guides and background information sources for each country.
• Law Library of Congress Research Guides on Foreign and International Law: Guides to legal research in select countries.
• NYU Law Library Foreign Law by Jurisdiction
• Georgetown Law Library Research Guides on Foreign & International Law
• Oxford Bodleian Libraries Legal Resources by Jurisdiction
• Bluebook Rules 20 and 21 and T2 are on citations to foreign and international law. The T2 tables on foreign jurisdictions are available free on the Electronic Bluebook. Entries for each country include links to internet sources for official legal publications.

You can use country reports and studies to find background information, official languages, legal history, systems of government, directories of government agencies, structure and names of legislatures and courts, and other information on legal systems, human rights, and business climate.

• CIA World Factbook and CIA Directory of Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
• Library of Congress Country Studies (Area Handbook Series
  • Topics include historical background, society, government systems.
  •  Published between 1967 and 2002.
  •  A larger and older collection of the country studies are in the Hein World Constitutions database.
• Foreign Law Guide (subscription database): Entries by jurisdiction include legal history and descriptions of the country’s government and legal institutions, as well as sources for legal research.
• Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia (1984-2005) (K530 .M62).  Available online through Hein Online's World Constitutions. 
• Europa World (subscription database): Country profiles, including recent history, government, and statistics.  Includes information on elections and recent events, constitutional and economic information, and government directories.
• EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) Country Reports (subscription database): Business information, economic outlook, domestic politics, and monetary policy
• OECD iLibrary: Reports and statistics by theme and country, including reports on taxation, finance, energy, trade, and development
• State Department Country Reports on Human Rights
• United Nations Human Rights Reports by Country

Foreign Law - Primary Sources

Foreign Law - Countries and Regions