Approaching legal research in a jurisdiction that is new to you can be a daunting prospect. Legal systems can vary from country to country. Understanding the legal system in a country helps make locating relevant resources easier.
This guide is designed to help you approach legal research in a new jurisdiction by outlining the following:
The types of materials produced in the law making process may vary depending on the jurisdiction you are researching. This will depend on the type of legal system in a particular jurisdiction i.e. common law, civil law, customary law, religious law, or mixed systems.
The following resources will help you determine the type of legal system in a particular jurisdiction and primary sources of law within that jurisdiction:
The Foreign Law Guide (UniMelb staff & students) is a database that contains information on over 170 jurisdiction and includes information such as:
You can either search or browse by jurisdiction or laws on a subject.
Once you have located a chapter on a jurisdiction of interest, you can navigate to summaries on the government structure and legal system, types of primary sources or laws by subject.
Juriglobe is a free resource produced by the University of Ottawa that helps you determine a country's legal system classification and related information.
It also contains general information about the different legal systems and information on demographic distribution, world Gross Domestic Product (GDP), international trade and official languages.
The CIA World Factbook contains facts and figures on 200+ countries. It provides information on the legal system of countries, as well as the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military and transnational issues.
It also contains a list of countries and their legal systems.
Once you have determined what the primary legal sources are for a particular jurisdiction, you must try to locate those sources. The Law Library subscribes to numerous databases that contain the primary sources for other jurisdictions. The best way to locate these databases and access the primary legal sources is through our Research Guides. The Research Guides are separated into the following sections: Australian Law, General Legal, Foreign, Global & Comparative Law, and International Law. Refer to the research guide in your jurisdiction of interest (if available).
You can also access a foreign jurisdiction's research guide via the Law Library's Research Databases - by Jurisdiction. For many of the jurisdictions listed, there is a research guide available that contains in-depth information about legal research in that jurisdiction and relevant databases related to that jurisdiction
These guides will direct you to databases the University of Melbourne Library subscribe to, as well as any freely available websites or databases.
The Foreign Law Guide (UniMelb staff & students) is a database that contains information on over 170 jurisdiction and includes citations and links (where possible) to publications such as major codes, official gazettes, compilations or official codifications, session laws, and court reports. You can browse laws by country and by subject across jurisdictions.
The World Legal Information Institute's research database WorldLII contains material on a large range of jurisdictions. WorldLII is a free, independent and non-profit global legal research facility developed collaboratively by a number of Legal Information Institutes and Law Faculties around the world. AustLII is one of the collaborating parties in WorldLII.
You can browse by country, database, or region:
Note: Be mindful that as WorldLII is a not-for-profit organisation, the datasets for each country be not be complete, comprehensive, or up to date.
While the Law Library has a number of Research Guides on various jurisdiction, there is not a guide on every jurisdiction. If the Law Library does not have a research guide on your particular jurisdiction, try the following resources:
New York University School of Law's Globalex contains a foreign law research collection with chapters on over 150 countries. The guides are written by expert law librarians from each jurisdiction and include information about the legal system and links to free sources of law (if available).
If there are multiple revisions for a guide on a jurisdiction, be sure to click the UPDATE link next to the original guide for that jurisdiction.
Note: the hyperlink to the guide will take you to the first version published. If you see an Update next to the guide - this is the most recent version available.
The United States Library of Congress Law Library has produced guides to online legal research for a variety of nations. These highlight the primary sources for a range of jurisdictions, and where to find them online (if possible). The Library of Congress also has Foreign Law Research Guides for a selection of countries.
Several other universities also produce good foreign and comparative law research guides such as Georgetown Law Library’s Foreign and Comparative Law Research Guide and Harvard Law School Library's Free Legal Research Resources on Foreign and International Law.
When undertaking legal research, it is best to begin with secondary sources such as reference materials, books and journal articles as they will explain the legal landscape you are researching, and will often lead you to the key primary sources in your jurisdiction or topic of interest.
Reference Materials such as legal dictionaries and encyclopaedias can provide a good overview on a new topic or jurisdiction.
There are a number of reference materials available on the Law Library Research Databases - by Type page, under Reference & Encyclopaedias:
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(UniMelb staff & students)Journal databases that contain articles on specific jurisdictions are included in the Law Library's jurisdiction specific Research Guides. For a general list of journal databases, refer to the Research Databases - by Type Journal article section.
Below are selected databases that contain journal articles on a range of jurisdictions
When starting your research, a textbook in the area of law is very useful. Use the library catalogue to locate books (and eBooks).
If you are after a book which the University of Melbourne does not hold, or if there is a book in the collection that is already on loan, or missing, utilise the CAVAL reciprocal borrowing program which allows staff and students to borrow in person from participating universities and institutions.
Simply take your current university ID card, or bring photo ID and be able to log into the staff or student portal of your home institution to register. Further details here.
Alternatively, if there is a journal article or book you have found in your research that the library does not have access to, you can place an Inter-Library Loan request (available to UniMelb Postgraduate students and staff).
Comparative law is a legal research method that compares the similarities and differences of the domestic laws of one country with another country. Comparative law tends to be subject focused - comparing the laws on a particular topic in at least two jurisdiction.
There are a number of comparative law research guides on the Law Library Research Guides page with links to key resources in that subject. There are guides on subjects such as:
Legal encyclopaedias provide succinct summaries on legal topics. Each topic is written by an expert and regularly reviewed so the information is relevant and accurate to current law. They are arranged by subject and include legislation and case law authorities in support of the statements.
The Library subscribes to a number of reference & encyclopaedic materials useful for comparative legal research
The Foreign Law Guide allows you to browse or search by subject area. It includes the central primary sources, particularly legislation, in that area of law. A list of secondary sources on the subject may also be included for some jurisdictions.
You can navigate by Subject:
Once you have selected a subject area, select your country of interest. The country page will include the primary law in the area, and secondary sources for selected subjects/jurisdictions.
Multinational Sources Compared is a Hein Online database that identifies key secondary sources that compare laws in multiple jurisdictions on a particular subject. Browse by Subject to navigate to the topic of interest.
Use the Find It @ UniMelb link to see if we have the secondary source in the library. Each entry also highlights which jurisdictions are focused on in the secondary source.
Comparative legal reasoning: essays in honour of Geoffrey Samuel by
This volume features the papers presented by leading comparatists from the UK and abroad at an international workshop on 'Comparative Legal Reasoning: une journée d'étude aux alentours du travail de Geoffrey Samuel' at Reis Hall, Paris on 3 December 2016
Comparative Law by
Comparative Law offers a thorough grounding in the subject for students and scholars of comparative law alike, critically debating both traditional and modern approaches to the subject and using examples from a range of legal systems gives the reader a truly global perspective. Covering essential academic debates and comparative law methodology, its contextualised approach draws on examples from politics, economics and development studies to provide an original contribution to topics of comparative law. This new edition: is fully revised and updated throughout to reflect contemporary research,contains more examples from many areas of law and there is also an increased discussion of the relevance of regional, international, transnational and global laws for comparative law. Suitable for students taking courses in comparative law and related fields, this book offers a fresh contextualised and cosmopolitan perspective on the subject.
The following pages include a variety of other tools useful for foreign and comparative legal research
If you need to translate foreign legal information:
New York University's Globalex Foreign Law Guides may also include information for obtaining translations of particular jurisdictions' laws.
There are selected websites that produce translations of laws for a particular subject area (see below).
WIPO Lex contains national laws and treaties on intellectual property from selected countries which are WIPO, WTO or UN members. it is a good source for selected civil codes in the vernacular and in translation.
NATLEX is the International Labour Organization's legal database containing legislation on national labour, social security and related human rights from over 190 countries. The legislation has been translated into English, Spanish and French.
Selected international law journals may include commentary or translations of changes to laws or important judicial updates on a range of jurisdictions.
To get a sense of the meaning of the information to be translated, you can use free tools such as Google Translate and BING Translator to quickly translate documents. Please note: using online translating tools are not official translations and official or authorised translations should always be used where available in preference of documents translated using Google Translate or BING Translator.
Below is a list of databases containing foreign primary and secondary sources:
For further legal research databases, please refer to the Research Databases - Alphabetically on the Law Library website.
The Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th Edition is the referencing style for subjects in the Melbourne Law School.
For assistance with referencing in AGLC and Zotero reference management software, please contact Law-librarians@unimelb.edu.au
This Research Guide is created and maintained by the Law Library, Melbourne Law School.
Please contact us at Law-librarians@unimelb.edu.au with corrections, suggestions or comments about the Guide.