LibGuides: Starting Points for Foreign Law Research: Guides: FL Research & Legal Systems

Legal Research Guides

Key E-Resources:

Foreign Law Guide (Marci Hoffman, general ed.) (subscription)
In BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - BRILL.
Provides information about laws in approx. 190 jurisdictions. Each entry describes the legal system and key sources of laws and regulations. Includes cites to English-language translations of primary legal materials and cites to some secondary sources.
BLS students, faculty and administrators: access Foreign Law Guide while connected to Brooklyn Law School’s wireless network, while using computers in BLS Library’s computer labs, or while off campus using a web browser that communicates with the BLS proxy server.
GlobaLex (Hauser Global Law School Program, New York University School of Law)
Tab: "Foreign Law" yields research guides for 100+ jurisdictions.
Excerpt from description: "The most up-to-date version of each article is listed in alphabetical order by the name of the jurisdiction."
Guide to Law Online: Nations of the World (U.S. Law Library of Congress)
Provides 220 guides.

Guides Provided by Libraries with Large Collections:

Note: Some links to subscription databases in these guides will not be accessible to the public.

Chapter in a BLS Library Ebook:

International Legal Research in a Nutshell by Marci Hoffman
Publication Date: 3d ed., 2021
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBSCO. On left of resulting screen, click: EPUB Full Text (to view).
Chapter 3 highlights many sources for foreign and comparative law research. Appendix B describes sources containing translations of national law.

Corporate/Commercial Law-Focused Guides

Bloomberg Law > tab: Secondary Sources > Browse International Resources provides Lexology Panoramic (subscription)
Path: Bloomberg Law > tab: Secondary Sources > Browse International Resources includes material from Lexology Panoramic's subject overviews of nearly 30 countries' laws. These subject overviews focus on business, finance, health care insurance/litigation, insurance, intellectual property and trade topics. (Countries covered vary by topic.)
Box: Litigation & Dispute Resolution (Panoramic) outlines the court system and time limits for bringing selected civil claims in the countries covered by Lexology Panoramic.
Link to Self-Register for a Bloomberg Law Academic Account
Tip: Register w/ your BLS email account. Bloomberg Law will send you an email to activate your new account.
Westlaw: Practical Law > Global Home (subscription)
Path: Click: View All Jurisdictions > choose a jurisdiction > view available content by practice area. Provides data on 100+ jurisdictions. Includes: Country Q&A Comparison Tool ("Compare answers to key questions about doing a variety of transactions across multiple jurisdictions.") Includes: Global ESG and Sustainability Resources; Global In-house Resources; and Global AI Toolkit.
Tip: Also conduct terms and connectors searches such as: "Islamic finance"

Lists w/ Links to Government Gazettes & Laws

Government Gazettes Online (University of Michigan)
Provides title, URL, languages, “free or fee” info., & whether the government gazette is searchable.
World Law Guide (Lexadin)
Provides 70,000+ "[l]inks to [l]egal sites in over 180 countries."
World Legal Information Institute (coordinated by AustLII, a joint facility of the UTS and UNSW Faculties of Law)
Provides “1,834 databases from 123 jurisdictions via 14 [Free] Legal Information Institutes.” Click link: All Countries.

When Was This LibGuide Last Updated?

This LibGuide was last substantively updated:

On: July 16, 2024

At: 9:47 AM

By: Jean Davis

Legal System Guides

Sources Covering Multiple Legal Systems/Traditions:

The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law (2019) edited by Roger Masterman & Robert Schütze
The Impact of Common Law and Civil Law Traditions on Cross-Border Transactions (law stated as of June 1, 2023) by Raimondo Premonte (in Westlaw)
Introduction to Comparative Law (2023) by Jaakko Husa.
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBC. ID and password required. Registration required for first-time use (must be within BLS proxy). 1 digital copy available.
JuriGlobe World Legal Systems (University of Ottowa) (free online)
Provides overviews (in graphic form) of the world's legal systems and identifies official legal languages. Includes a "General Bibliography" about the world's legal systems.
Mixed Legal Systems, East and West (2015) edited by Vernon Valentine Palmer, Mohamed Y. Mattar & Anna Koppel

Sources Focusing on European Union Law:

Sources Focusing on Islamic Law:

Cambridge Companion to the Rule of Law (2021) edited by Jens Meierhenrich & Martin Loughlin
Includes chapter: Islamic Conceptions of the Rule of Law by Luc Heuschling.
Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law: From the Classical Period to the Present (2023) by Omer Awass
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBC. ID and password required. Registration required for first-time use (must be within BLS proxy). 1 digital copy available.
Introduction to Jurisprudence: Classical and Islamic (2007) by Muhammed Twafig Ladan
Islamic Law in a Nutshell (2020) by Haider Ala Hamoudi
Islamic State As a Legal Order: To Have No Law But Islam, Between Shari'a and Globalization (2022) by Federico Lorenzo Ramaioli
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBC. ID and password required. Registration required for first-time use (must be within BLS proxy). Multiple digital copies available.
Shari'a: Islamic Law in the Contemporary Context (2007) edited by Abbas Amanat & Frank Griffel
Shariʻah law: An Introduction (2008) by Mohammad Hashim Kamali

Sources Focusing on Specific Jurisdictions:

Canada:

Introduction to the Law and Legal System of Canada (2013) by Nancy McCormack & Melanie R. Bueckert
Osgoode Hall Law School Library Research Guides
Includes: Canadian Legislation and Parliamentary Materials + Canadian Cases.
Une Véritable Justice équitable, décolonisée, Par et Pour les Peuples Autochtones (2023) by Pierre Rousseau
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBC. ID and password required. Registration required for first-time use (must be within BLS proxy). Multiple digital copies available.
Unsettling Colonialism in the Canadian Criminal Justice System (2023) by Vicki Chartrand & Josephine Savarese, eds.
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBC. ID and password required. Registration required for first-time use (must be within BLS proxy). Multiple digital copies available.

China:

China's Legal System (2013) by Pitman Potter
China's Legal System: An Interpretation of Its Structure, Principles, and Institutions (2023) by Jingwen Zhu, Tao Meng, Hao Peng, Hui Feng, Xinyan Liu & Xiaolong Peng, eds.
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBSCO. Remote access requires BLS proxy. 1 digital copy available.
Chinese Law: Context and Transformation (2016) by Jianfu Chen
Chinese Law and Legal Research (2nd ed. 2023) by Wei Luo
Chinese Legal Reforms: Transformations in a Decade (2024) by Lu Xu
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBC. ID and password required. Registration required for first-time use (must be within BLS proxy). 1 digital copy available.
The Legal System of the People's Republic of China in a Nutshell (4th ed. 2023) by Daniel C.K. Chow
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBSCO. Remote access requires BLS proxy. 1 digital copy available.
On Contemporary Chinese Legal System (2023) by Xiaobo Dong & Yafang Zhang
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBSCO. Remote access requires BLS proxy. 1 digital copy available.
On the Standardization of Chinese Legislative Language (2023) by Xiaobo Dong & Yafang Zhang
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBSCO. Remote access requires BLS proxy. 1 digital copy available.
A Study of Legal Tradition of China From a Culture Perspective: Searching for Harmony in the Natural Order (2023) by Zhiping Liang
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBSCO. Remote access requires BLS proxy. 1 digital copy available.

France:

French Law: A Comparative Approach (2nd ed. 2018) by Eva Steiner
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - OXFORD. Remote access requires BLS proxy.
Introduction to French Law (2012) by George A. Bermann & Etienne Picard

Germany:

Introduction to German Law and Legal Culture: Text and Materials (2024) by Russell A. Miller
Forthcoming.
05/17/2024: BLS Library pre-ordered 1 print copy.
The German Legal System and Legal Language: A General Survey Together with Notes and German Vocabulary (2009) by Howard D. Fisher

Italy:

The Italian Legal System: An Introduction (2nd ed. 2015) by Michael A. Livingston

Japan:

The Japanese Legal System in a Nutshell (2020) by Colin P.A. Jones & Frank S. Ravitch

Mexico:

Mexico and Its Legal System: Lawyers' Essays on the Continuing Evolution (2018) edited by Yurixhi Gallardo & Patrick Del Duca
Mexican Law and Legal Research (2014) by Jonathan Pratter, Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Bianca Anderson, Marisol Floren-Romero, Teresa M. Miguel-Stearns, Julienne E. Grant, Sergio D. Stone & Jootaek Lee
The Mexican Legal System: A Comprehensive Research Guide (2013) by Francisco Avalos
See also: Francisco A. Avalos, UPDATE: Researching Mexican Law and Mexican Legal System (Nov./Dec. 2019), https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Mexico1.html

Russia:

South Africa:

Beyond Expropriation Without Compensation: Law, Land Reform and Redistributive Justice in South Africa (2024) by Olaf Zenker, Cherryl Walker & Zsa-Zsa Boggenpoel, eds.
In SARA catalog record, click line: "Online resources: Beyond expropriation without compensation" (open access)
Introduction to the Law of South Africa (C.G. van der Merwe & Jacques E. du Plesis eds., 2004)

Spain:

Spanish Law and Legal System (2006) by Elena Merino-Blanco

Ukraine:

Competition and Intellectual Property Law in Ukraine (2023) by Heiko Richter
In SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - EBSCO. Remote access requires BLS proxy. 1 digital copy available.
The Law and Legal System of Ukraine (2005) by Alexander Biryukov & Inna Shyrokova

United Kingdom:

Slapper & Kelly's The English Legal System (20th ed. 2024) by David Kelly