European Union legal research
Research Methodologies in EU and International Law by Call Number: KB 166 CRYEPublication Date: Hart, 2011
See also the following online research guides
- University of Oxford LibGuides
- Globalex Guides
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The Law Library of Congress
- ASIL Electronic Resource Guide: European Union
Useful research tools
- EuroVocA multilingual, multidisciplinary thesaurus covering the activities of the EU. It contains terms in 23 EU languages. This thesaurus enables researches to search the relevant databases more effectively.
A useful research tool providing information on justice systems - it is designed for the layperson, as well as lawyers, litigants and researchers. It links to EU, member state and international case law and EU, member state national and international legislation.
Introduction to the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational economic and political union of 27 Member States. The principal offices of the EU are located in Brussels, Belgium.
Europa contains many databases on various topics - see Europa’s list of databases.
- Europa.euFor information on the EU member countries.
- How the European Union works: your guide to the EU InstitutionsFree to download from the online EU Bookshop
- EuropaThe official website of the European Union. it provides access to official EU documents, especially those published since 1998.
- Principles and ValuesFor useful brief background information on the EU on the Europa website.
History of the European Union
- History of the EU TimelineFrom 1945 to the present day compiled by the Inner Temple Library.
- History of the EUAvailable from the Europa site.
- Archive of European IntegrationA repository dedicated to the collection of full-text materials on European integration.
Is European Union law international law?
Although EU law may be regarded as a specific form of international law, the main body of EU law has some particular features which usually do not appear in international law. In particular, citizens can invoke rights guaranteed by EU law before courts in the EU Member States, whereas international law usually needs to be transposed into national law before citizens can plead it. Also, EU law often prevails over the law of the EU Member States. For more information view the link below.
European Union legal system
The EU is based on the rule of law: everything it does is founded on treaties, voluntarily and democratically agreed by its member countries.The EU is also governed by the principle of representative democracy, with citizens directly represented at Union level in the European Parliament and Member States represented in the European Council and the Council of the EU.
European Union Law including Brexit in a Nutshell by Call Number: KW 70.1 FOLSPublication Date: West Academic Publishing, 2017
The ABC of European Union LawCall Number: eBookPublication Date: 2018Background information on the EU legal system. Available to download free from the EU Bookshop
- EUR-LexThe 'portal to European law'. It is a free legal database maintained by the European Commission that contains the full-text of treaties, legislation, court decisions, and other official documents of the European Union. It is the best free source of official and up to date EU legal information.
The principle institutions of the EU are:
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Executive branch |
Legislative branch | Judicial branch |
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- How the European Union works: your guide to the EU InstitutionsFor an excellent overview of the EU institutions. It is free to download from the online EU Bookshop.