Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Research – Where Do You Start?

By Alan Kilpatrick

Need to research foreign, comparative, or international law (FCIL) and are not sure where to begin?  I encourage you to check out GlobaLex, an outstanding source of free high-quality FCIL articles and research tools.  You can access GlobaLex online at http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex.

GlobaLex, maintained by the Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU LAW, was launched in 2005 by Mirela Roznovschi.  Roznovschi, who recently retired from her successful career as a Foreign and International Law Reference Librarian, is a well-known authority in the FCIL research field.  In addition to GlobaLex, she helped create the American Association of Law Libraries FCIL special interest section.

GlobaLex is dedicated to providing the legal profession and the public across the globe with free access to authoritative FCIL research.  For example, it provides research guides for over 150 nations.  About GlobaLex describes the scholarly nature of the information it disseminates:

The information and articles published by GlobaLex represent both research and teaching resources used by legal academics, practitioners and other specialists around the world who are active either in foreign, international, and comparative law research or those focusing on their own domestic law. The guides and articles published are written by scholars well known in their respective fields and are recommended as a legal resource by universities, library schools, and legal training courses.

GlobaLex contains four different sections:  International Law Research, Comparative Law Research, Foreign Law Research, and Tools for Building FCIL Collections.  You can navigate each section by selecting the section heading.  Resources in each section are listed alphabetically.

• International Law Research provides a variety of articles discussing international treaties, agreements, and other topics of international importance
• Comparative Law Research provides several articles discussing differences and similarities between various legal system
• Foreign Law Research provides legal research guides for over 150 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe
•  Tools for Building FCIL Collections provides advice for librarians developing FCIL library collections

GlobaLex is an ideal starting point for lawyers conducting FCIL research.   Please comment below if you are familiar with any other free FCIL resources.

Sources
American Association of Law Libraries. (2007). Guides for the World: GlobaLex. Retrieved from http://www.aallnet.org/mm/Publications/spectrum/Archives/Vol-11/pub_sp0706/pub-sp0706-guides.pdf

Hauser Global Law School Program. (2015). GlobaLex. Retrieved from http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/

New York University Law. (2013). Law Librarian Mirela Roznovschi Wins AALL Award. Retrieved from http://www.law.nyu.edu/news/mirela-roznovschi-aall-award