Sources of International and Foreign Law In English
I. Introduction
The following is a list of currently maintained looseleafs and journals which contain international documents, commentary and/or summaries or full-text translations of foreign laws. LEXIS and internet sites with English translations of foreign laws are also included. The numerous sites with international materials are not listed nor are sites for primarily English speaking countries. Comprehensive internet sites for foreign and international materials include the following:
- New York School of Law Library Guide to Foreign and International Legal Databases
- Harvard Law School Library Guide to Researching Foreign Law on the Internet
The Australasian Legal Information Institute is a comprehensive site for Australian legal materials with links to materials for New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. The British and Irish Legal Information Institute provides a listing of links for legal materials for the United Kingdom and Ireland.
II. Journals, Serials, Looseleafs, and Websites
All items are held in the Law Library unless otherwise noted. If a journal is indexed the title of the index is listed. LEXIS is only available to law students and law faculty.
A. Multi-subject coverage
Doing Business, from the World Bank Group, provides a database of legislation for 175 economies of relevance to business. Topics covered include baking and credit; civil procedure; commercial and company laws; labor; land and building; securities; and tax.
International Legal Materials
- JX 68.I5
- Indexed in PAIS International.
- Published six times a year ILM primarily publishes international materials but occasionally publishes translations of national legislation.
- ILM is also available on LEXIS. Library: intlaw. File: ILM.
Review of Central and East European Law
- Comp.L. K18.E982
- Indexed in Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
- Occasionally contains translations of laws from the countries of central and eastern Europe, the Russian Federation and other nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States
B. Specific Subjects
Antitrust and Competition Law
Competition Law in Western Europe and the USA
- K 3856.C66
- Includes European Union materials, documents, treaties, commentary and national legislation of the member states of the EU.
European Competition Law Review (1980-date)
- KJC 6456.A5 E97
- Indexed in Legal Journals Index and Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
- The news section has summaries of legislation and occassionally published supplements include the full text of national legislation from European and CIS nations
UNCTAD provides competition legislation for Algeria,Brazil, Bulgaria,Burkina Faso, Chile, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Mexico,Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Serbia,Singapore,South Africa, Switzerland,Tanznia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Global Competition Forum from the International Bar Association also provides links to the world's competition laws some of which have been translated into English.
provides
Arbitration Law
International Commercial Arbitration
- K 2400.I59
- This set includes international instruments and national legislation and rules
International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration
- K 2400.I594 1984
- Includes commentary and summaries or full text of national legislation
World Arbitration Reporter
- K 2400.S64
- This includes international conventions, national laws and commentary, and international and national arbitral instruments and rules
Yearbook-Commercial Arbitration
- K 2400.A53 Y4
- annual publication
- Includes arbitral awards, arbitration awards and court decisions
Banking and Investment Law
FDI.net from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group provides links to investment, trade, and other legislative materials.
International Regulation of Finance and Investment
- K 4430.T73
- Contains documents, analysis and commentary on major public financial institutions, international banking standards, materials from the IMF and EMS and texts of Japanese and United States laws.
Investment Laws of the World
- K 1112.I58
Investment Laws of the World — Treaties
- K 1112.I582x
- This set includes the investment laws and regulations of more than 120 countries and numerous investment promotion and protection treaties.
New York School of Law's Index of Documents from the Center for the Study of Central Banks Collection provides links to banking laws and related legislative materials for many countries.
Commercial Law
Commercial Laws of the World
- K 1005.4.F67x
- A comprehensive set which includes corporation, labor, securities, and other commercial acts for almost every country (ceased publication)
Constitutions
Constitutions of the Countries of the World
- K 3157.E54 C64x
Copyright
Collection of National Copyright Laws is a database from UNESCO which provides national legislation on copyright and neighboring rightslaws in English, French, and Spanish.
Criminal Law
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime legal library includes legislation related to the implementation of the three UN conventions related to drug control as well as legislation concerning money laundering and law enforcement.
Energy Law
Compendium on Energy Legislation in Countries of Asia and Pacific Region
Environmental Law
Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law provides links to the environmental laws of several members of ASEAN.
Comparative Environmental Law and Practice
- K 3585.4 C65
- This contains discussions of the environmental laws of various countries.
Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources
FaoLex provides a searchable collection of legislation relating to food, agriculture and natural resources. Materials are in English, French, and Spanish.
Health Law
The International digest of health legislation from the World Health Organization has English language summaries of health legislation with some full text.
Human Rights
Legislationline from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights provides selected legislation on topics related to human rights issues such as citizenship, non-governmental organizations, terrorism, elections, migration, police, prison services, human trafficking, freedom of assembly, judicial independence, hate crimes, and the death penalty.
MINELRES (Minority Electronic Resources) provides legislation from Central and Eastern Europe on minority human rights.
Intellectual Property Law
Collection of Laws for Electronic Access from the World Intellectual Property Organization
Digest of Intellectual Property Laws of the World
- K 1401 .A49 D54 1990
International Trade
International Regulation of Trade in Services
- K 3973.I58
- Includes commentary, international, regional, OECD, WTO and EU instruments, and other material concerning international provision of services.
International Trade Reporter:
- Export Shipping Manual (KF 1993.A6 I572)
- Import Reference Manual (KF 1993.A6 I57x Ref)
- Decisions (KF 1993.A6 I57 Dec)
- Current Reports (KF 1993.A6)
Law and Practice of the World Trade Organization
- K 4602.2 1995
- Includes source documents, commentary, and decisions of dispute settlement panels.
Law and Practice Under the GATT
- Law and Practice Under the GATT (K 4602 1988)
- Law and Practice Under the GATT and Other Trading Arrangements - The European Community/European Free-Trade Agreement (KJE 5062.E87 E2 1993)
- Law and Practice Under the GATT and Other Trading Arrangements- The European Community, the [former] Soviet Union & Eastern Europe (K 4602.2 1991a)
- These publications have not been updated since 1995 when the WTO was established. These publications are still useful for locating decisions of dispute panels under GATT and for historical research. Materials formerly covered in these publications are now covered in various publications relating to the WTO.
Laws of International Trade
- KF 1975.A8 L39
- Includes commentary on various aspects of foreign law relevant to business
North American Free Trade Agreements
- KDZ 944.A35N67 1993a
- This set contains commentary, treaties, bipanel decisions under US-CFTA and NAFTA and Mexican trade, investment and labor laws.
Trading Arangements in the Pacific Rim: ASEAN and APEC
- KNC 945.A88 1995
- Includes source materials and commentary relating to preferential trading arrangements, external relations, non-tariff barriers, joint ventures and tariff preferences.
Labor and Employment Law
The International Encyclopedia for Labour Law includes commentary, enactments of international bodies, case law and national legislation. (UIUC users only)
Labour Law Documents
- K 1704.L33
- A collection of treaties and legislation on labor and social security
The Natlex database from the International Labour Organization is primarily a bibliographic database but it includes translations of basic labor legislation for several countries.
Law of the Sea
New Directions in the Law of the Sea
- New Directions in the Law of the Sea (JX 4408.N4822 1995)
- New Directions in the Law of the Sea--Global Developments (JX 4411.N49)
- New Directions in the Law of the Sea--Regional & National Developments (JX 4408.N4822 1995)
- The set consists primarily of treaties, protocols, and statements but it also contains some national legislative materials.
Nationality and Citizenship Law
Nationality legislation of the member states of the Council of Europe.
Patent Law
World Patent Law and Practice
- K 1504.15 1974x and K 1504.4.B383x
- This set contains treaties, national legislation and European patent decisions
Public Contracts
Public procurement legislation from SIGMA for EU member states, candidate countries, and countries of the Western Balkans.
Tax Law
Guide to European Taxation
- KJC 7105.G85
- This series includes five titles containing summaries of various tax laws of European countries:
- Taxation of Patent Royalties, Dividends, Interest in Europe
- Taxation of Companies in Europe
- Taxation of Private Investment Income
- Value Added Taxation in Europe
- Taxation & Investment in Central and East European Countries
International Tax Planning Manual
- K 4464.I57 1986
- Contains outlines of national tax systems of forty two countries relevant to both inward and outward investment. Also includes tables of withholding and exchange rates.
International Tax Summaries
- K 4505.4.I54
- annual publication
Tax Havens of the World
- K 4464.5.D52x
- Analysis and summaries of the laws of countries providing tax havens.
Taxation in Latin America
- KG 911.T39 1987
- The first two volumes contain summaries of the tax laws of Mexico and the Spanish and Portugese speaking countries of South and Central America. Volumes 3 and 4 include tax treaties of these countries.
Trademarks and Industrial Property
Industrial Property Laws and Treaties
- K 1503.A1 I53x
C. Individual Countries
Albania
Civil Service Law (1999)
Nation Building in the Balkans provides links to banking and property statutes, the criminal code and criminal procedure laws.Public Procurement Law (2003)
Armenia
Legislation Armenia (Lexadin) includes a collection of laws on various subjects
Austria
Austrian Laws in English provides links to constitutional legislation and various statutes related to courts, service of documents, electronic commerce and signatures, media, and administrative law.
Belarus
Civil Code of the Republic Belarus [as amended to 1 May 1998]
- KLF 49.A29 1964.A52 1998
Statutes Collection
- Byelorussian Law is a legislative collection of both civil and criminal laws compiled by WWW Belarus and Softinform.
Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Institute for Legal Development provides links to laws on the National Assembly site and to new tax, securities and foreign investment laws.
Cambodia
The Ministry of Commerce has a collection of commercial laws and regulations.
The Office of the Council Of Ministers-Council of Jurists includes some laws and regulations translated into English.
China (Macao)
China (People's Republic)
The Ministry of Commerce of the PRC provides English translations of law, regulations and other materials related to business and investment..
The Contract Law of the People's Republic of China: with English Translation and Introduction
- KNQ 858.A3 1999 C49 1999
The 1997 Criminal Code of the People's Republic of China with English Translation and Introduction
- KNQ 3794.31997.A6 L6 1998
State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C. provides links to English translations of patent, copyright, trademark, and unfair competition laws.
China (Republic)
Croatia
Czech Republic
Act on Public Contracts (2006)
Commercial Code "Obchodní zákoník" Act No. 513/1991 as subsequently amended
- KJP 5497.A291991 C99 2001
Denmark
Egypt
LANDIS (Legislation and Development Information System) provides translations of the Civil Code and laws on investment guarantees (1997) and competition protection (2005).
Ministry of Foreign Trade & Industry provides a few English translations of legislation relating to investment, banking, and trade.
Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs provides an English translations of the Environmental Protection Law.
Estonia
Corpus Juris provides links to various laws including the Bankruptcy Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Credit Institutions Act, Code of Criminal Procedure, Customs Act and Taxation Act.
The Estonian Legal Language Centre has Estonian legislation in English translation.
Estonian Legislation in Translation — Legal Acts of Estonia
- 349.4798 E87 (Slavic and East European Library)
Equatorial Guinea
The web site of the Ministry of Mines, Industry, and Energy has English translations of the 2006 Hydrocarbons Law and the 2006 Mining Law.
Finland
Finlex is a database of of Finnish acts, decrees, and cases some of which are translated into English.
France
Doing Business in France
- KJV 2199.D64
- Commentary and discussion only
French Busines Law in Translation
- KJV 240.B87 F74 2005
- Includes general commercial, banking, securities, consumer protection, competition, labor, tax, insurance, intellectual property, insurance, and environmental legislation.
French Penal Code
- K 5014 .A43x v.31
- Volume 31 of the American Series of Foreign Penal Codes is "The French Penal Code of 1994 as amended as of January 1, 1999"
"Key provisions of the French Criminal Code in English and French" (Appendix A) in French Criminal Code
- KJV 7979.E45 2001
Legifrance includes English translations of several of the major codes including the Code of Civil Procedure, Intellectual Property Code, Posts & Telecommunications Code, Insurance Code, Public Procurement Code, Penal Code, Commercial Code and Civil Code.
Georgia
The Parliament of Georgia contains some legislation in English.
Germany
Business Transactions in Germany
- KK 2057.B871983
- The Statutory Material volume contains various acts including the Commercial Code, Act Against Restraints of Competition, Act on Limited Liability Companies, Stock Corporation Act, Banking Act, Patent Act and others.
"German Business and Commercial Laws: Guide to Translations into English and Select Auxiliary Sources" (2000) by Martina Kammer is a web page which includes sources for translations of commercial and business laws both in print and on the web.
German Capital Market Law
- KK 2247.A25 1995
- Contains capital market laws as amended in 1994 and other materials including the Rules of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
German Civil Code is a translation of Books 1, 2 and 3 from the Ministry of Justice.
The German Commercial Code, Second Edition (Revised and Amended to October 28, 1994)
- KK 2045.51897.A52 1998
German Commercial Code & Code of Civil Procedure
- KK 2044.5 2001
German Criminal Code (2008) is a translation from the Ministry of Justice.
German Environmental Law for Practitioners
- KK 6242.G47 1996
- This volume includes the text of several German environmental and waste management acts
German Laws in English is a collection of various German laws translated into English. These include the civil and criminal code and environmental, commercial, immigration, and intellectual property laws.
German Laws in English Translation is another collection of German laws available in English translation.
The Law-Related Internet Project Saarbrücken (English Service) provides links to various statutes translated into English including materials on data protection, regulation of the internet, telecommunications, regulation of the legal profession, and the Act Against Restraints on Competition.
German Takeover Law — A Commentary (2002)
- KK 2628.A31200 .G47 2002
Hong Kong
Department of Justice, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region — Bilingual Laws Information System-Database of the Laws of Hong Kong
Hungary
Act on Public Procurement (2003, amended 2007)
Lexis — Hungarian Rules of Law in Force from January 1990 (library:intlaw/file:hulaw)
Iceland
Laws and Regulations from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights website includes links to the General Penal Code, Act on the Judiciary, Marriage Act, Act on Registered Partnerships, Adoption Act, Nationality Act and other legislation.
Japan
Doing Business in Japan
- JapanV Doing
- The first volume of the statutory materials includes various commercial laws. The second includes the Civil Code, Products Liability Act and other statutory material.
EHS Law Bulletin Series
- JapanIII-34
- This is a comprehensive collection of Japanese laws in English. Japanese Laws in English-An Index to the EHS Bulletin Series is located in reference (KNX 5.B74 1995).
Japanese Code of Civil Procedure (Law no. 109, 1996) and Rules of Civil Procedure in Civil Procedure in Japan (2d edition, 2000)
- KNX 1710 .H382
Law Resources (Temple University) includes links to complete or partial translations of statutes and links to translated cases.
Roderick Seeman's Japan Law.Info includes the translations of major laws relating to investment and banking.
Jordan
The Central Bank of Jordan has English translations of banking laws and regulations.
Latvia
The Republic of Latvia Privatization Agency has an English translation of the "Law on the Completion of Privatization of State and Municipial Asset Units and the use of Privatization Vouchers"
Lithuania
The Legal Information Center (TIC) at the Ministry of Justice: Some basic laws of Republic of Lithuania is a collection of basic laws, rulings, resolutions, decisions and other materials.
Parliamentary Record — Saeima of the Republic of Lithuania
- 349.47505LI (Slavic and East European Library)
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania includes a searchable database of Lithuanian laws, some of which are translated into English.
Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic)
The Macedonian Legal Resource Center provides English translations of selected laws relating to business, trade, banking, tax, labor, bankruptcy and foreign investment.
Mongolia
Foreign Investment and Foreign Trade Agency (FIFTA) provides English translation of fifty five laws on various topics including business, the environment, taxes, intellectual property, natural resources, intellectual property, consumer protection and bankruptcy.
Montenegro
The Ministry for Economic Development provides English translations of the Concessions Law (2003), Law on Energy (2003), Foreign Investments Law (2003), and Business Organization Law (2003).
The Ministry of Justice includes English translations of the following legislation: Law on Witness Protection (2004), Criminal Code (2004), Constitution (2004), Criminal Procedure Code (2004), Law on Inspection Control (2003), Law on State Prosecutor (2004), Law on General Adminisrative Procedure (2003), Law on State Administration (2003), Law on Courts (2002), Law on the Election of Mayors (2003), and Law on the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms (2003).
The Netherlands
The Bank of the Netherlands provides English translations of banking laws and regulations.
Civil Code of the Netherlands (2008)
- KKM494.31838.A52 2008
Dutch Penal Code
- K 5014.A43x v. 30
- Volume 30 of the American Series of Foreign Penal Codes is "The Dutch Penal Code of March 3, 1881 as last amended by Act of October 7, 1996, Stb. 1996, 505"
Norway
Information from the Government and Ministries site provides legislation and regulations on various topics.
Phillipines
The Chan Robles Virtual Law Library provides a variety of resources including legislation related to the environment, family, labor, civil, and investment law. It also includes a collection of statutes and codes promulgated since independence.
Poland
Portugal
Romania
The National Bank of Romania provides English translations of banking laws and regulations.
Russian Federation
Basic Legal Documents of the Russian Federation
- KLB 13 1992a (reference)
- This includes Commonwealth documents and legislation of the Russian Federation in force as of 1 January 1992.
The Civil Code of the Russian Federation — Parts 1 and 2
- KLB 494.31994.A52 1997
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (as amended through December 28, 2004). From Legislationline (OSCE ODIHR)
Criminal code of the Russian Federation (3d ed.)
- KLB 3794.31996 .A52 1999
The Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (as amended through June 1, 2005. From Legislationline (OSCE ODIHR)
Customs Code of the Russian Federation (2007) from the Federal Customs Service.
Garant Law Database available as part of ISI Emerging Markets (UIUC users only)
Legislationline (OSCE ODIHR) provides legislation on a number of topics including citizenship, non-governmental organization, terrorism, elections, migration, police, prison services, human trafficking, freedom of assembly, judicial independence, hate crimes, and the death penalty.
Russian company law : basic legislation (3d ed.)
- KLA 1050 .A28 2000
Russian Federation Federal Law: "On Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations"
Russian Legal Texts: The Foundation of a Rule-of-Law State and a Market Economy
- KLB 13 1998
- Includes law establishing the federation, laws on the judicial system and legal profession, rights of man and citizen and foreign relations law.
Statutes and Decisions — The Laws of the USSR and its Successor States
- Rus K23.092
- Indexed in PAIS International
- Volume 33, parts 1-3, contains the first two parts of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Volume 33, parts 4-5, contains the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation enacted in 1996.
Saudi Arabia
Labor Law (Royal Decree No. M/51, 2006) from The Saudi Network.
Singapore
Spain
Civil Code of Spain (with 2004 supplement)
- KKT494.31889 .A521994
Sweden
Swedish Statutes in translation from the Government Offices of Sweden provide English translations of legislation in twelve categories:agriculture, fisheries and food; business and finance; communications and IT; defense; education; environment; family law; labour legislation; legal and judicial (which includes the Criminal Code, criminal laws, arbitration, administrative procedure, and the Code of Judicial Procecdure); public administration; and social issues.
Tadzhikistan
Tadzhikistan Legal Texts: The Foundations of Civic Accord and a Market Economy
- KLT 1.9 1999
Thailand
The Office of the Council of State has selected legislation in English translation.
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan Civil Code of Saparmurat Turkmenbashi
- KLV 49.A3 1998 A4 1999
Uzbekistan
Civil code of the Republic Uzbekistan (3d ed.)
- KLW 49 .A28 1999
Viet Nam
Viet Nam Law Documents provides English translations of Vietnamese law documents including those relating to the environment, land, forestry, wild life, foreign investment, agriculture and others.
Compiled by Jane Williams
© Jane Williams, 1998-2010
Content last updated 20 January 2010
If you know of other sites with English translations please email Jane Williams.
