Published on February 3, 2020  

Are you looking for foreign and international law? Sometimes, finding that information can be a difficult task. However, the following websites provide guidance in the search for foreign and legal information. 

Constitute

Constitute can be used to analyze and compare texts of constitutions from around the world. The constitutions of almost every independent state in the world are included.  Also, some draft and historical texts are available through the site. This is a product of the work by the Comparative Constitutions Project

Foreign and International Law Research Guides: Law Library of Congress

The law Library of Congress has developed research guides for various countries, which include Australia, Egypt, Japan, France, Sweden, and more. Bibliographies and information about the customary law of some areas can, also, be found on the site. 

GlobaLex

Published by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, this site includes guides, articles, and other tools that help facilitate the discovery of foreign and international law. There is a special section of the site that is dedicated to comparative law research. 

Global Legal Monitor

The Global Legal Monitor is an online publication of the Law Library of Congress. This site is provides legal news from around the world, and it can be browsed by topic or jurisdiction. 

Nations of the World: Law Library of Congress

Also published by the Law Library of Congress is Nations of the WorldNation, which is another guide to international legal resources that are available online. On its site, the Law Library of Congress notes, “In compiling this list, emphasis wherever possible has been on sites offering the full texts of laws, regulations, and court decisions, along with commentary from lawyers writing primarily for other lawyers.” 

Treaties in Force (TIF)

Treaties in Force (TIF) provides information about international agreements and treaties to which the United States is a party. It is published on an annual basis, and it is, periodically, updated throughout the year. The site is published and maintained by the United States Department of State. 

United Nations

One of the functions of the United Nations is to uphold international law. The website of the international body contains documents related to that work. There are links to the UN Treaty Collection, the UN Digital Library, and many other resources. A research guide is available to help website visitors locate the information that they seek. 

World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII)

Here, a user can find free, consistent access to legal information from around the world. As of today, the site links to, approximately, 1,834 databases from 123 jurisdictions. WorldLII is a member of the Free Access to Law Movement