Home > Department >

Foreign & International Law

in

The Foreign and International Law Collection department is located on L1 of the Yale Law School Library. In addition to providing research assistance and instruction to our faculty and students, we are responsible for collecting foreign law (the law of countries other than the United States of America), comparative law (the comparison of law in different jurisdictions), and international law (the law between and among countries -- treaties, international court decisions, commentary, etc.). Our 200,000+ volumes include a world-renowned international human rights collection, extensive European collections, and quickly-expanding Latin American and Asian collections. Our collection of English and foreign-language materials is widely considered one of the most comprehensive in the United States.

The circulating F/I collection is housed in several general areas. The compact stacks on L1 adjacent to the elevators house most of the international collection. The bulk of the foreign collection is located on the Lower East Side, while pre-1980 monographs and selected inactive serials are at the Library Shelving Facility and can be easily requested directly from the Morris catalog's item record. The materials in the F/I Reading and Reference rooms are non-circulating. We also have may research guides to help you embark on foreign, comparative, and international legal research.

The offices of the Foreign and International Law Collection staff are adjacent to the F/I Reference room on L1. We are eager and available to assist you Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm, and our collection is accessible during all regular library hours. You may also request assistance by emailing or telephoning any of the F/I staff or the general reference desk on L3, 432-1606.

FOREIGN AND INTERNATIONAL COLLECTION STAFF

  • Teresa Miguel - Associate Librarian for Administration, instructor, and selector for Iberia and Latin America (432-8023)
  • Ryan Harrington - Reference Librarian for Foreign and International Law, instructor, selector for German material (432-7371)
  • Evelyn Ma - Asian Law Reference Librarian, instructor, selector for China, Japan, Korea, Singapore (432-7120)
  • Daniel Wade - Curator for Foreign and International Law, instructor, and selector of international and foreign law (other than those listed above) (432-1615)

  • John Nann - Selector for EU, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand (432-1259)


INSTRUCTION

The courses below are designed and offered by library staff and have a foreign and/or international focus:

Law, Politics & Society in Latin America (1 unit, credit/fail)

This course will meet weekly at lunch time for two hours to discuss current events in Latin America. Each student will be given responsibility for a particular country or region of Latin America and will report weekly on the important events in that country or region. Occasionally there will be guest speakers who are experts in Latin America to lead the discussion on that day's topic. It is possible to take this course more than once. No previous background is assumed, only a general interest in increasing awareness of what is currently going on in Latin America. Enrollment will be capped at twenty. S.B. Kauffman and T.M. Miguel.

Contemporary Legal Issues in Africa (1 unit, credit/fail)

This reading group will meet once a week at lunchtime to discuss current events in Africa, with special emphasis on events that raise issues of international law. Each student will be given responsibility for a particular region of Africa and will report weekly on the important events in that region. One unit of credit is available for participants. Students who wish to do more extensive research into the legal issues in their particular region can make special arrangements for additional study, including the awarding of Supervised Analytic Writing credit. It is possible to take this course more than once. No previous background is assumed, only a general interest in increasing awareness of what is currently going on in Africa. L. Brilmayer and D. Wade.

Specialized Legal Research: Foreign & International Law (1 unit, credit/fail)

International legal research, whether for scholarly or professional purposes, must use materials and methods that are quite different from those encountered in domestic legal research. This workshop will examine those methods and help students develop improved techniques for international legal research using both print and electronic resources. There will be no paper or examination and grading will be credit/fail. The workshop will meet for five or six weekly two-hour sessions.  S.B. Kauffman, R. Harrington, T. Miguel

Advanced Legal Research (3 units, graded)

An advanced exploration of the specialized methods and sources of legal research in some of the following areas: administrative law; case finding; computer-assisted research; constitutional law and history; court rules and practice materials; international law; legislative history; and statutory research. Class sessions will integrate the use of online, print, and other research sources. Notebook computer recommended. Research problems and paper required.  S.B. Kauffman, C. Tubbs



<<Return to Top of Page