Country-by-Country Guide to Foreign Law Research
This country-by-country guide will help get you started on your foreign law research by connecting you to the best research guides and databases for each country.
Notes about the guide:
- Links under Country go to the CIA's World Factbook.
- The LC Call Number indicates where the print materials for that country are located on the Lower East Side (LES) of the Yale Law Library.
- The Regional Map icons go to a map of the larger geographical region.
- LC Country Studies provide social, political, legal and economic information
- The FLG is the outstanding and comprehensive Foreign Law Guide which will give you the historical, political and legal framework for each country plus the past and current sources of legal information, including where to find legislation, codes and case decisions, print and online. This is a Yale subscription database.
- HLS refers to Harvard Law School's list of online guides to doing legal research in foreign jurisdictions.
- WorldLII is a directory of legal information available on the Internet.
- The Online Guides column includes the most substantial guide available from a library or research site.
- The World Law Guide is a good resource for current legislation.
- The Gazettes column features a link to the country's national gazette.
- Finally, the Other Databases column lists other valuable subscription or open-access databases or websites for that country.
|
Country LC Call Number Range |
Regional Map | LC Country Study | FLG | HLS | Legal Information Institute (WorldLii) | Online Guides | WorldLaw Guide | Gazettes | Other Databases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan (KNF) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Official Gazette (Resmi jaridah Du Adli Vizarat) |
Legal Documents Exchange Center (constitution, laws, regulations, decrees, treaties, etc) Ministry of Justice (laws) Afghanistan Legal Education Project |
|||
| Albania (KJG) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Fletoret Zyrtare (in Albanian) |
| |||
| Algeria (KQG) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Journal Officiel de la République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire / Al-Jarīdah al-Rasmīyah |
| |||
| Andorra (KJH) |
|
| FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide | | ||||
| Angola (KQH) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Boletim Informativo do Governo di Angola (continued by Diario da Republica: orgao oficial da Republica de Angola after 1975) |
| |||
| Antigua and Barbuda (KGK) |
|
| FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
The Antigua and Barbuda Official Gazette (not available online) |
| |||
| Argentina (KHA) |
|
| FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Lexis (Legislation & International Arbitration) Latin Laws -- Biblioteca Legal Latinoamericana INFOJUS (in Spanish and full text: national and provincial laws and decrees; national and provincial jurisprudence; doctrine; dictates of the Solicitor of the Treasury; information about Argentina and Mercosur; and regulations of the AFIP) Decreto 1431 (all decrees in full text in Spanish) |
||||
| Armenia (KLD) |
|
CS | | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Official news of the Armenian Republic (in Armenian) |
IRTEK (Legal Information Database; in Russian) Armenia's Parliament (legislation in English) |
|||
| Australia (KU) |
|
| FLG | HLS |
AustLII AustLII Legal Scholarship Library AustLII Victorian Law Reports WorldLII CommonLII CommonLII (Norfolk Island) |
Northwestern LLRX LLRX (trade mark) GlobaLex LOC Social Science Research Network (SSRN)GovPubs (the Australian Government Publications Guide) Jade BarNet (OpenLaw Initiative) |
WorldLaw Guide |
Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (Government Notices & Periodic) |
LawCite (Australian Legal Case Citator) English Case Reports 1220-1873 Lexis (Case Law, Journals, International Arbitration) WestLaw (Case Law, Reports, Acts & Legislation, Unreported Judgments, Administration, Regulation & Compliance, Codes of Practice & Standards, Agreements & Treaties, Journals) Foolkit (find federal and state acts, regulations, and rules) Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Commentaries on the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia Historical Introduction to the Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth Museum of Australian Democracy (Documenting Democracy: Commonwealth Documents) Australian Federation (Full-Text Database) Australian Law Reform Commission Reports Law Research Service (Open Access Law Resources)
|
|
| Austria (KJJ) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
ALEX (Laws in German) UTexas (Translated Cases) Chancellery of Austria (Bundeskanzleramt, in German) Westlaw (Patents & Trademarks) |
||||
| Azerbaijan (KLE) |
|
CS | | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Azerbaijan (newspaper owned by the Parliament where the laws are published) |
Legislation (comprehensive legal database for Azerbaijan; in Russian) |
Stephanie Davidson created the original version of this guide for a clinic several years ago. It has since been modified to suit general foreign law research. Thanks to Zhang Yue, YC '10 and Anna Ershova, YC '11 for their assistance in updating this guide.

















