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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambodia (KNM) |
|
CS | | HLS | WorldLaw Guide | | ||||
| Cameroon (KQW) |
|
| FLG | HLS |
WorldLIICommonLII Droit Afrique
|
WorldLaw Guide |
Journal officiel de la République unie du Cameroun (not available online) |
| ||
| Canada (KE) |
|
| FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada Lexis (Treaties & International Agreements, Case Law, Legislation & Regulations, Journals, Directories, Commentaries & Treatises, International Arbitration) Westlaw (Case Law, Digest, Abridgment, Journals & Periodicals) |
||||
| Cape Verde (KQX) |
|
| | | |
Boletim oficial de la Republica de Cabo Verde |
| |||
| Cayman Islands (KGM) (British Overseas Territory) |
|
| FLG | | WorldLaw Guide | | ||||
| Central African Republic (KRB) |
|
| FLG | | WorldLaw Guide | | ||||
| Chad (also known as Tchad) (KRC) |
|
CS | FLG | | WorldLaw Guide |
No gazette available |
| |||
| Chile (KHF) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Tribunal Constitucional (sentencias) Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional-Ley Chile Researching Chilean Law (Loyola University, Chicago) Latin Laws -- Biblioteca Legal Latinoamericana |
||||
| China, People's Republic of (KNN) (See also Taiwan) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS |
WorldLIIAsianLIIAsianLII(Hong Kong)AsianLII(Macau)AsianLII(Taiwan) CommonLII (Hong Kong) |
Northwestern Yale LLRX GlobaLex GlobaLex (Hong Kong) LOC LOC(Taiwan) LOC (Hong Kong) LOC(Macau) |
WorldLaw Guide |
Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Guo Wu Yuan Gong Bao (China's State Council Bulletin; in Chinese) The Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette |
ChinaLawInfo/LawInfoChina (Yale network only) China Lawyer Court Cases Database (Yale network only) Westlaw China (Yale network only) Macau Penal Code(partial English translation) LexisNexis China Law Database (authoritative collection of Chinese laws, regulations, tax information, judicial decisions, and other legal documents, collected from government sources, and translated by LexisNexis China Online (COL) in Beijing)
|
|
| Colombia (KHH) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Latin Laws -- Biblioteca Legal Latinoamericana |
||||
| Commonwealth of Caribbean Islands |
|
CS | FLG | | | | ||||
| Comoros (KRE) |
|
CS | | | WorldLaw Guide |
Journal officiel de la Republique Federale Islamique des Comores (not available online) |
| |||
| Congo, Republic of the (The Congo, Congo-Brazzaville) (KRG) |
|
| FLG | | WorldLaw Guide | | ||||
| Cook Islands (N.Z.) (KVL) |
|
| | HLS | |
Cook Islands Gazette (not available online) |
| |||
| Costa Rica (KGB) |
|
| FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Informacion Juridica (Legislation and Court Decisions) Latin Laws -- Biblioteca Legal Latinoamericana |
||||
| Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) (KSH) |
|
CS | FLG | | WorldLaw Guide |
Journal officiel de la Republique de Cote d'Ivoire (not available online) |
Lexis (WTO's Trade Policy Review (TPR) 1995, Duns Market Identifiers - Cote d'Ivoire) |
|||
| Croatia (KKZ) |
|
| FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
European Case Law Database (Croatian); Lexis (Balkans Business Digest, Croatian Arbitration Yearbook, HINA, Occasional Paper Series - Institute of Public Finance, Review of Arbitration in Central and Eastern Europe) |
||||
| Cuba (KGN) |
|
| FLG | | WorldLaw Guide |
Gaceta Oficial de la Republica de Cuba = Gaceta de la Habana |
| |||
| Cyprus, Republic of (KJN) |
|
CS | FLG | | WorldLaw Guide |
Cyprus Source of Legal Information (in Greek) |
||||
| Czech Republic (KJP) |
|
CS | FLG | HLS | WorldLaw Guide |
Czech Law Database (Czech) Legislativa (a law database maintained by the Ministry of the Interior; in Czech) European Case Law Database (Czech) Westlaw (Patents & Trademarks) |
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.
























