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Research guides are so helpful to conducting foreign law research. They can be very helpful in identifying, for a particular country, where laws, decrees, statutory instruments or subordinate legislation, treaties, court reports, regulations, directives, etc., are published. Research guides can give you links to government websites where such information can be found, or tell you if such information is even available online. (You might be surprised to find out how much foreign law is not available online, whether for free or in a paid database.) Research guides will also usually note if a country's materials can be found in English, or not.
If you find a research guide that is helpful from another school, just keep in mind that any call number locations will be specific to that school's library. If they mention a helpful print resource, then you should do a search for that title in Hollis or Hollis Classic.
Selected Research Guides
- Foreign Law Guide (Reynolds and Flores)
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Provides very helpful background information on the legal system in each country included, as well as official languages. Provides information regarding major codifications for legislation, regulations (or subordinate legislation), Codes, court reports, etc. Provides information on recently enacted laws and codes they amend, for many subject areas. - NYU Globalex Foreign Law Research GuidesUse these guides if doing research in a particular country. Always use the UPDATE version of the guide if there is one. Many are prepared by practicing lawyers or law librarians who work within the country for which the guide has been prepared.
- Harvard Law Library Research GuidesTo access the foreign and international legal research guides, scroll down to the bottom of the page.
- Using the Moody System for Foreign Legal Research at HarvardPlease note that you can only use Moody call numbers in Hollis Classic, within the field "other call number." (
