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Starting Points for Foreign Law Research: Guides: Legal Systems & FL Research
This guide highlights foreign law sources available to Brooklyn Law School patrons. Developed by Victoria Szymczak and revised by Jean Davis.
Law Library of Congress, Global Legal Information Catalog - Describes subject-oriented sources that reprint laws and regulations of foreign countries.
Marci Hoffman, ed.Foreign Law Guide - Online subscription source that provides information about laws in approx. 190 foreign jurisdictions. Each entry describes the foreign 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.
Bloomberg Law > Browse [All Content]: Secondary Sources > Search Reference Materials > check: Getting the Deal Through (GTDT). In keywords search box, add a country name. GTDTprovides current subject overviews of nearly 30 countries' laws. These subject overviews focus on business, intellectual property and trade topics. (Countries covered vary by topic.) Topic "Dispute Resolution" outlines the court system and time limits for bringing selected civil claims in the countries covered by GTDT.
Marci Hoffman, International Legal Research in a Nutshell (2021) - Chapter 3 highlights many sources for foreign and comparative law research. Appendix B describes sources containing translations of national law.
Provides title, URL, languages, “free or fee” info., & whether the government gazette is searchable.
Guides to Foreign Legal Systems
Below are examples of sources that discuss foreign legal systems/traditions. Sources covering multiple jurisdictions (or legal families) appear first in the list below.
Website 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.