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International Legal Research. Publically available international legal resources. Allie Lustigman. What we’ll be covering:. Publically available sources for finding cases and legislation The resources and how to search them Subject case searching
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International Legal Research Publically available international legal resources Allie Lustigman
What we’ll be covering: • Publically available sources for finding cases and legislation • The resources and how to search them • Subject case searching • Which sources, how to search, boolean operators • Collections of international legal research resources and guides • Human Rights publically available resources • Further methods • Questions
Publically available sources for finding cases and legislation
Publically available sources for finding cases and legislation • World Legal Information Institute (Wordlii) http://www.worldlii.org/ • Combines resources from 120 jurisdictions. • Covers cases, legislation and articles • Utilise the search functions to increase chances of finding relevant cases
Publically available sources for finding cases and legislation • Lawcite http://www.worldlii.org/LawCite/ • Part of Worldlii • Over 4 million cases, law reform documents and articles • Not completely comprehensive but has some excellent research functions
Publically available sources for finding cases and legislation • Lexadin http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/ • Main legislation for specific countries • Europa http://europa.eu/index_en.htm • European legislation and treaties
Subject case searching • Worldlii http://www.worldlii.org/ • Use the Help link to see a list of Boolean operators and the best ways to search • Always go into Advanced Search • Try to narrow down your search as far as possible, by database and keywords
Subject case searching • Lawcite http://www.worldlii.org/LawCite/ • Use the articles search, no keyword search for cases • Key cases will be cited in articles
Subject case searching • Lexology http://www.lexology.com/default.aspx? • Free resource of briefings and articles from lawyers globally • Similar to Lawcite - search for articles on a subject and you should then find some relevant cases. • Google Scholar http://scholar.google.co.uk/ • Search journal articles on your topic area and find references to relevant and key cases • Easy Google search functionality
Collections of international legal research resources • Jurist http://www.jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/index.htm • Individual country links with information on their constitutions, Human Rights information, Parliamentary information, and new or key legislation for that country • Cornell University http://www.law.cornell.edu/world/ • Split up by jurisdiction and country • Links to Constitution, key political figures, key legislation and other legal research resources • Law Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations.php • A host of linked information and resources collated together • Legal guides, country profiles, articles and reports, judicial information
Collections of international legal research resources SPECIAL MENTION: • Access to Law http://www.accesstolaw.com/index.php • Excellent site collating all publically available sources for international legal research, cases and legislation • Provides a summary of each source • Split up into sections by country, jurisdiction, and subject area
Human Rights publically available resources • US Department of State Human Rights Reports http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/ • In depth reports for a range of countries on their Human Rights laws and status • Globalex http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/ • Provides online guides to international, foreign and comparative law research.
Further methods of research • Libraries • Books on international legal subjects including Media law for example • Law reports and journals • Examples – Insitute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) and School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS)
Further methods of research • Westlaw and Lexis pro bono offerings • Westlaw International is ‘free’ if you subscribe to their other offerings • Lexis founded the International Law Book Facility which provides legal texts to pro bono organisations around the world www.ilbf.org.uk • Happy to allow you to use Lexis Resources for pro bono work such as for MLDI • Reduced subscription rates for charities
Further methods of research • Mailing lists • Lislaw • Email list mainly for law librarians. • Often used to provide obscure cases and articles or information on where to find them • Sign up via the JISCMail site http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ • Int law • Email list for international law librarians • Lots of international legal research enquiries • Sign up here http://listserver.ciesin.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=Int-Law