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Getting Started on a Foreign Legal Research Project . Researching the Law of Foreign Jurisdictions . Locating Constitutions of Foreign Countries . Print Subject Compilations of Foreign Laws in Translation . Selected Internet Resources for Foreign Law in Translation . Sources of Last Resort for Locating Foreign Laws

QUICK GUIDE:  FOREIGN LEGAL RESEARCH BASICS

I. Getting Started on a Foreign Legal Research Project

When beginning a foreign legal research problem, ask yourself several initial questions. How they are answered will determine where to begin your search. They are:

1. Are you looking for a specific item? (Do you have a cite to a case, code, statute, regulation?) See Section II(A) , below..
   
2. How recent? (Determines if it is available in print only, electronic, or both.)
   
3. Are you looking for laws on a particular topic? See Section IV or V, below.
   
4. For what country? See Section II(B) , below
   
5. Need official full-text of law, just a summary, or full-text in English translation? See Sections IV or , below.
   

II. Researching the Law of Foreign Jurisdictions

A. How to Decipher a Citation to a Foreign Law

B. How to Locate Primary Legal Sources for a Foreign Jurisdiction

  1. Using JACOB to Find Research Guides on Foreign Jurisdictions

C. Using Jacob to Locate Foreign Legal Materials Owned by the Burns Library

D. Selected Internet Resources for Locating Foreign Legal Materials on the Web

*  III. Locating Constitutions of Foreign Countries

* IV. Print Subject Compilations of Foreign Laws in Translation

* V. Selected Internet Resources for Foreign Law in Translation

* VI. Sources of Last Resort for Locating Foreign Laws


last updated: 8/02/05