Databases publishing foreign primary law vary significantly in their coverage, and do not always offer translations of foreign legal materials. You will sometimes need to consult multiple databases in searching for foreign primary law using commercial or web-based platforms. Consulting a foreign legal research guide may help you determine whether the jurisdiction publishes various primary materials on the web, and if not, whether commercial databases do. In consulting a research guide, you may identify commercial databases offering coverage of your jurisdiction that are not available at Vanderbilt, and/or are not widely available in U.S. libraries. If you have a strong need for the material, investigate whether the vendor offers trial or short-term subscriptions for academic researchers. If you have identified a particular document available in a database we do not host at Vanderbilt, our interlibrary loan staff can sometimes obtain it from a library who subscribes to that resource.
v|lexJustis
vLexJustis (formerly two distinct platforms, vLex and JustisOne) offers both primary and secondary materials for more than 130 jurisdictions. To browse available content for a jurisdiction, select Browse > All Jurisdictions > the appropriate region > and the appropriate jurisdiction. Content is provided in the official language of the particular jurisdiction, though the platform offers a machine translation tool.
- vLex Justis This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline
There are several foreign primary law databases within HeinOnline. Below are a few examples:
- World Constitutions IllustratedProvides English language translations of many foreign constitutions, and some foreign statutory codes, as well.
Westlaw and Lexis
Westlaw and Lexis both provide some primary law materials from foreign jurisdictions, but coverage varies significantly between platforms and across jurisdictions, and researchers should bear in mind that only U.S. content is searchable from the main search bar these platforms. As such, researchers may gain a more accurate sense of what is available for their jurisdiction by first selecting:
- the International Materials link in Westlaw, or
- or the International tab in Lexis,
and narrowing to their jurisdiction, or seeing what, if any, primary source materials are available for that jurisdiction in the platform.
The International Materials Index in Westlaw is another tool that researchers can use to determine whether a particular primary source is available in the platform. (For example, per the below screenshot, in browsing the index at letter "A" one quickly sees that statutes, regulations, legislation, cases, and more for Alberta, Canada are available.)
Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (UK Law)
Dalloz (French Law)
- Dalloz.fr This link opens in a new windowProvides access to legal materials published by Dalloz - codes, jurisprudence (case law), journals, and legal encyclopedias. All materials are searchable in French only.
WorldLII
You may, in the past, have utilized Cornell's Legal Information Institute (LII) to quickly locate certain U.S. legal materials, such as the text of a U.S. Code or Code of Federal Regulations provision. A number of similar legal information institutes exist outside the U.S. WorldLII's free database compiles legal materials from countries and legal institutions around the world. Much of this content is provided by local or regional legal information institutes, and you may wish to consult such jurisdiction-specific "LIIs" when available. A few example of region- or jurisdiction-specific LII's are:
Foreign Law Compilations
Just as some subject treatises discuss foreign laws, international organizations with legal subject area expertise sometimes offer compilations of relevant foreign laws on the web. Below are a few examples:
- NATLEXA database maintained by the International Labor Organizations, NATLEX contains laws governing labour and related areas, covering 196 countries and over 160 territories.
- SOGI Legislative DatabaseThe result of a collaboration between the International Commission of Jurists and the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto, this resource collects laws covering issues of concern to LGBT individuals and communities around the world.
- ECOLEXA joint initiative organized by several UN entities and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), this database includes treaties, national cases and legislation, and other literature pertaining to environmental law.
- WIPO LEXThe World Intellectual Property Organization compiles law governing intellectual property protection in member states in its WIPO LEX database, which also includes relevant international frameworks.
