LibGuides: International & Foreign Legal Research: Databases

Databases

International Law Databases

Basic Documents of the ICJ
Coaches should be familiar with these, especially the UN Charter, Statute of the Court, and Rules of the Court.
UN Official Document System
UN database of documents from the Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and their subsidiaries from 1993 forward.
European Library
Search the catalogs of the national and research libraries of Europe. Also links to Europeana, cultural collections of images, text, video, and sound
European Union Cases - Lexis
European Union Cases - Westlaw
ECOLEX
The ECOLEX database includes information on treaties, international soft-law and other non-binding policy and technical guidance documents, national legislation, judicial decisions, and law and policy literature. ECOLEX is operated jointly by FAO, IUCN and UNEP.
Flare Index to Treaties
The Flare Index to Treaties is a searchable database of basic information on over 2,000 of the most significant multilateral treaties concluded from the 1600s onwards and a number of significant bilateral treaties signed between 1353 and 1815, with links to the full text, where available, providing a research tool aiding scholars and students, lawyers and librarians in researching the international law of treaties - whether they are new or experienced in the field.
SHERLOC (Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws on Crime)
United Nations SHERLOC (Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws on Crime) database is a knowledge management portal developed to facilitate the dissemination of information regarding the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
Foreign & International Law Resources Database
FILRD includes the publications of the American Society of International Law along with prominent Yearbooks from around the world, including the Hague Permanent Court of International Justice series. It also includes U.S. Law Digests, International Tribunals/Judicial Decisions, and more.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNSRRIP) Database
This database contains Annual Thematic Reports, Country Reports, Statement and Messages, Comments on Legislation and Expert Testimony of the current and all previous three Special Rapporteurs appointed by the Commission on Human Rights.

Foreign Law Databases

HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated
Contemporary and historical constitutions for the countries of the world in original language and English versions, as well as books, periodicals, and related resources. Available through HeinOnline.
EU Law in Force
EU Law in Force – Publications Office of the European Union includes EU Treaties, EU Legislation, International Agreements and Case Law of the European Court of Justice.
CODICES
The Codices database contains the full text of over 10, 000 judgments from over 100 courts mainly in English and in French.
NATLEX
Database of laws from 196 countries and 160 territories on national labor, social security and related human rights.
Refworld
RefWorld is a database containing cases related to refugee law from several different jurisdictions.
WorldLII Courts & Case-Law
WorldLII Courts and Case Law category is a directory of websites organized by country.

Indexes and Databases for Finding Law Review, Law Journal, and Scholarly Articles

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is the world’s largest online resource of documents and articles, with more than 500,000 pages aggregated from 300 international publishing institutions, devoted to research, analysis, and scholarship on international politics and related fields, including security studies, global finance, diplomatic practice, humanitarian law, global governance, development studies, and environmental studies.
SSRN (Social Science Research Network)
SSRN is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of research and is composed of a number of specialized research networks. SSRN´s eLibrary provides 1,207,322 research papers from 1,107,568 researchers in more than 70 disciplines.
Oxford Handbooks Online
Oxford Handbooks Online contains in-depth, high-level articles by legal scholars at the top of their field. The born-digital content ensures current and authoritative coverage.

Westlaw

Currently, Westlaw has the best foreign law coverage of the three databases. Most are practice-oriented.

From Westlaw's home page, select Practical Law to locate the following foreign law resources:

Select the Resource Types tab > then select Global Guides and Cross-Border Topics
- Global Guides
- Cross-Border Topics
Select Global Home from the top of the Practical Law page
- Select Practice Areas,
- Featured Countries or
- All Countries or
- Global In-house Resources
- Country Q & A comparison tool
Tip: Use "Related Content" when available
Tip: Search in both Global Home and Global Guides

For links to Foreign primary and secondary material:

From WestLaw Precision Home page, click on International Materials
Search by Jurisdiction or Content.
Additional materials on far right (International Arbitration, Journals, etc.

Lexis

Lexis provides good international news coverage for all countries and some primary source coverage for a few countries.

From the "International" tab on the home page, select "View All Countries and Regions."

Search by legal topic or law review articles:

All International Law Treatises, Guides & Jurisprudence.
- Especially useful are the Getting the Deal Through and Lex Mundi series.
All International Law Reviews

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International & Foreign Legal Research: Databases