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Government & Legal Resources: Foreign & International Law

Getting Started with Foreign & International Law Resources

To get started with your foreign or international legal research check out the subscription databases below.  Lexis has the greatest amount of primary law, and HeinOnline has a robust journal collection. If you do not find what you need the best place to turn is the Law Library of Congress.  The Law Library of Congress has robust country guides as well as a wonderful Ask a Librarian service.

The Commerce Research Library's print collection does not contain any foreign law materials.  We do have international law materials including books on treaties, WTO, Law of the Sea, and more.

Subscription Research Databases

  • Foreign & International Law Resources Database - This database includes in-depth publications of the American Society of International Law and 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.
  • US Treaties and Agreements Library - This library includes all U.S. treaties, whether currently in-force, expired, or not-yet officially published. It includes prominent collections such as the United States Treaties and Other International Agreements set (commonly referred to as the "Blue set"), as well as famous sets from Bevans, Miller, Malloy and others.
  • World Treaty Libraries - This database brings together works from Rohn, Dumont, Wiktor, and Martens to create the richest collection of world treaties ever available, spanning from 1648 to the present. Also included are hundreds of related treaty publications, scholarly articles chosen by our editors, and a bibliography of related publications.
  • Kluwer International Law Journal Library - Contains 23 Kluwer Law International Journals including: Air and Space Law, Arbitration International, World Trade and Arbitration Materials, International Journal of Comparative Labour Law & Industrial Relations, European Public Law, European Review of Private Law, and Legal Issues of Economic Integration.
  • International & Non-U.S. Law Journals - This is a sub collection of the Law Journal Library which contains journals on the subject of international law and journals published outside of the the U.S.
  • International Primary Law: Cases & Statutes - LexisNexis international legal content includes primary law for these English-language jurisdictions: Australia, Canada, China and Hong Kong, European Union, India, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. This content is gathered from 675 databases which include cases, statutes, and/or constitutions.
  • International Law Library - The LexisNexis International Law Library also includes numerous secondary research materials related to international law issues. Commerce researchers can use this collection to complement any primary international law research they conduct. This collection includes 139 secondary sources providing guidance for business, tax, and intellectual property concerns around the world.
  • Global Regulations - Through Lexis+, Commerce users will have access to a deep collection of global regulatory content from Global-Regulation, a premier provider of English language translations of foreign statutes and regulations. Global-Regulation also provides access to the original-language source documents for 33 countries.
  • International Materials* - Browse the International Materials section to find country specific resources including some primary law materials as well as links in to other foreign and international collections including, but not limited to the ones lists below.
* When using these links make sure to select "Access with single sign-on" at the bottom of the Westlaw sign in page.

Law Library of Congress

An annotated guide to sources of information on government and law available online. It includes selected links to useful and reliable sites for legal information. Many sites offer the full texts of laws, regulations, and court decisions, along with commentary from lawyers writing primarily for other lawyers.
 
Foreign, Comparative & International Law Collections
Drawing from the Law Library’s extensive collections on foreign, comparative and international legal materials, the digital collections represent historical documents, official publications, legal gazettes, and research reports authored by Law Library foreign legal specialists.
 
The Global Legal Monitor is an online publication from the Law Library of Congress covering legal news and developments worldwide, including the enactment of notable new legislation and the issuance of landmark judicial decisions. It is updated frequently and draws on information from official national legal publications and reliable press sources. The blog is a credible source for monitoring new developments in foreign law before scholarly articles have been written about them.
 

Other Online Resources & Guides

GlobaLex
Hosted by NYU, this free resource offers jurisdiction-specific legal research guides for almost every country in the world.  In addition to narrative background information, each guide provides links for accessing laws online (where available), as well as links to legislative, judicial, and government websites.

World Legal Information Institute
Free, independent and non-profit access to worldwide law.

Georgetown’s Foreign and International Law Guides
The Georgetown Law Library's site features a number of specific and detailed guides to point you to further resources for primary and secondary resources.

Bloomberg Law
Located on the Bloomberg Terminal, BLAW contains a limited amount of legal analysis of international legal issues mostly focusing on business law.