Research Guides: Introduction to Foreign and International Legal Research: Subject-Specific Collections and Resources

Overview

This section lists general resources for finding foreign law materials by subject. It also provides research suggestions for selected subject areas, including constitutional law, intellectual property, and labor and employment law.

Multi-Subject Foreign Law Resources

Foreign Law Guide This link opens in a new window
A guide to official sources and official full texts of legislation and English translations of codes, laws and relevant material published separately for the legal systems of over 180 nations or jurisdictions, including internet sources for individual jurisdictions. Browse "Laws by Subject" and then select your country or countries of interest.

Foreign Law Translations (UT Austin School of Law)
A resource for translated French, German, Austrian and Israeli legal materials in the fields of constitutional, administrative, contract and tort law. The English translations of decisions from Germany and France include cases from the Reichsgericht, the Bundesverfassungsgericht, the Bundesgerichtshof, the Conseil Constitutionnel, the Conseil d’Etat and the Cour de Cassation.
GlobaLex's Foreign Law - Subject Law Collections on the Web
Lists selected online resources covering both general foreign law research and subject-specific research.
University of Minnesota Law Library Guide: Foreign Law by Subject
Lists selected online and print resources for a number of foreign law topics.
World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII): Subjects
WorldLII is a free online resource for links to foreign primary legal materials. Databases of case-law, legislation, treaties, law reform reports, law journals, and other materials are included. On its Subjects page, you can select a topic and then further browse by country, materials type, and more.

Books in the Mabie Law Library

The Mabie Law Library print collection has a number of books on topical laws in specific countries or regions.

For example, to locate a title on intellectual property or copyright law in Germany, you might try the following subject searches in our catalog:

Intellectual property -- Germany

A secondary source on comparative law topics on certain topics can also be helpful. For example, searching "comparative law" and copyright in the catalog brings up several print titles on this topic.

Constitutional Law

Comparative Constitutions Project
This resource produces comprehensive data about the world’s constitutions, aimed at answering questions about the origins and consequences of constitutional choices.
Constitute
Locate historical, current, and draft texts of constitutions from nearly 200 countries. A Compare feature allows users to view two different documents side-by-side.
Legislationline.org
A website providing access to the constitutions of nearly 60 countries participating in OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe).
World Constitutions Illustrated (HeinOnline)
Includes the current constitution for every country in its original language format and an English translation, as well as other constitutional research materials.

Intellectual Property

Bloomberg Law (UCD Law only)
Bloomberg Law's International Intellectual Property collection includes materials from the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre, Czech Arbitration Court, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, UK Intellectual Property Office, and World Intellectual Property Organization. To get started, access Bloomberg Law and select Browse > All Legal Content Search, then select the tab for "Select Sources by Global Jurisdiction" and locate "International IP".
Horwitz on World Trademark Law (2d ed.) (Lexis+)
A guide to world trademark law and practice, with detailed coverage of 35 major jurisdictions and summary coverage of another 100.
International Copyright Law and Practice (Lexis+)
This treatise integrates the global analysis of international copyright with in-depth chapters on national laws for the EU and selected countries.
WIPO Lex
Maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO Lex provides free access to legal information on intellectual property from around the world. Access 47,000 legal documents among WIPO Lex's Laws, Treaties, and Judgments collections.

Labor & Employment Law

The International Labour Organization (ILO) maintains several online resources for foreign labor & employment legal materials:

EPLex
EPLex contains national legal information on the regulation of temporary contracts and employment termination at the initiative of the employer.
ILO Global Database on Occupational Safety and Health Legislation
A database compiling national laws on occupational safety & health.
NATLEX
A database of national labour social security and related human rights legislation, covering 196 countries and over 160 territories and subdivisions.
NORMLex
This database brings together information on International Labour Standards (such as ratification information, reporting requirements, comments of the ILO's supervisory bodies, etc.) as well as national labour and social security laws. Contains information from the NATLEX database as well as other ILO databases.