Foreign Law – Subject Law Collections on the Web

Jennifer Allison worked as a Librarian for Foreign, Comparative, and International Law at the Pepperdine Law School Library (2007-2012) and the Harvard Law School Library (2012-2022). Having left full-time librarianship at the end of 2022, she now operates her own business, Manuscript Spa, through which she provides pre-publication editing, formatting, and indexing services for scholarly books and articles. Jennifer holds a J.D. from Pepperdine Law School, an M.L.I.S. from San Jose State University, and an LL.M. from the law faculty of the University of Würzburg in Germany. She returns to Würzburg twice a year as a visiting lecturer, teaching courses in substantive U.S. law topics, including criminal law and procedure, administrative law, common law remedies, and alternative dispute resolution.

1. General Multi-Subject Resources

Bloomberg Law (subscription). Browse foreign materials by topic by clicking Browse > Secondary Sources > Browse International Resources. Coverage is mainly related to business and commercial law and includes a large library of Getting the Deal Through (GTDT) country surveys (see below).

European e-Justice Portal: National Legislation (open access). Descriptions of sources of law and the lawmaking process, in English, for nearly all EU member states. Links to national legal databases are also provided.

Foreign Law Guide (subscription). This database, which was known as “Reynolds and Flores” when it was published in print, provides information about primary and legal secondary sources for nearly every jurisdiction in the world. Each jurisdiction includes a directory of sources organized by subject.

Gale LegalTrac (subscription). Indexing service for legal periodicals that includes materials from selected foreign jurisdictions.

Getting the Deal Through Country Surveys, Lexology (subscription), Bloomberg Law (subscription). Although its primary focus is laws related to establishing and operating businesses and other areas of commercial law, GTDT includes information about national legislation and regulation in more than 80 subjects. It covers a large selection of jurisdictions, and its content is updated very frequently.

Global Legal Group’s International Comparative Legal Guides, (open access). This resource provides selected content from its comparative law publications. It can be browsed by practice area and jurisdiction, and coverage generally falls under the umbrella of business and commercial law.

Global-Regulation (subscription). Machine-translated English-language laws from jurisdictions around the world, searchable by subject. It features a “Penalty AI” tool, which “automatically detects penalty clauses and uses machine learning to extract the penalties and convert them to $USD,” and a “Global Complexity” tool, which allows the user to “track risk levels by query by creating a global heat map of legal complexity measured by the length of the law and the number of similar laws in each jurisdiction.”

GlobaLex (open access). Includes one of the largest collections of international, comparative, and foreign law research articles. Some focus on geographic areas, such as the GlobaLex Source of Online Legal Information for African Countries, which includes a subject directory of online sources for African law. There are also several topical comparative law articles. The foreign law section includes law research articles for most jurisdictions of the world.

HeinOnline (subscription). HeinOnline has several collections that include primary and secondary legal materials for non-U.S. jurisdictions. It also hosts the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) (an indexing service for law journals from around the world), Multinational Sources Compared: A Subject and Jurisdiction Index (a finding aid designed to direct researchers to sources that compare multiple jurisdictions on focused subjects), and the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law Publications (historically focused comparative law treatises, bibliographies, and finding aids).

International Encyclopedia of Laws (subscription; also available in individual print volumes). IEL includes encyclopedia-length entries, with detailed descriptions of primary legal sources, for selected jurisdictions on the following legal subjects: civil procedure, commercial and economic law, competition law, constitutional law, contracts, corporations and partnerships, criminal law, energy law, environmental law, family and succession law, insurance law, intellectual property, intergovernmental organizations, labor law, media law, medical law, migration law, privacy and technology law, private international law, property and trust law, religion, social security law, sports law, tort law, and transport law.

Law Library of Congress’s Global Legal Monitor (open access). Includes articles that discuss legal developments in jurisdictions around the world. These articles often include references and links to primary sources. It is searchable and browsable by jurisdiction and by topic.

Lexadin World Law Guide (open access). Web directory of legal sources (including legislation and case law) for many of the world’s jurisdictions. Organization is by country; within each country’s “legislation” listing are links to laws organized by subject. It was last updated in 2011.

Lexis+ (subscription). The US version of the subscription Lexis database includes content for selected foreign jurisdictions – click International on the Lexis+ home page to browse by jurisdiction.

Legal 500 Country Comparative Guides (open access). These guides are designed to “give the in-house community a practical overview of the laws and regulations in key jurisdictions, for specific practice areas.” The subjects covered fall mainly under the category of business and commercial law. The resource can be browsed by practice area or region, and a country comparison tool is available.

LLMC Digital (subscription). LLMC, which stands for “Law Library Microform Consortium,” provides access to digitized primary and secondary legal materials covering multiple subjects for many of the world’s jurisdictions, with a focus on historical materials. It is browsable by jurisdiction.

Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative, and International Law, 1600-1726 (subscription). Historical foreign law materials in this database include “titles that explore questions of law and legal history specific to Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, and Switzerland, with an especially strong representation of legal works on France from 1800 to 1925.”

N-Lex (open access). Online directory to the national law databases of the member states of the European Union.

OECD iLibrary (some content freely available, most is by subscription). Online library of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); although its main focus is policy literature, there may be some content that would be helpful to comparative law researchers.

ProQuest Policy File Index (subscription). This database provides materials about the implementation of public policy measures and initiatives, both in the United States and in other jurisdictions, from NGOs, think tanks, research institutes, and advocacy groups. These materials may be of particular interest to human rights and criminal law researchers.

Thomson Reuters Practical Law (UK version) Global Guides Library (introductory content is open access, links to subscription resources). Collection of articles describing legal regulation in many subject areas across multiple jurisdictions; includes a country comparison tool.

Thomson Reuters Practical Law (US version) Global Content (subscription). At the top of the Westlaw Practical Law screen, click Global Home to browse materials by jurisdiction or practice area (mainly commercial law topics); includes a country comparison tool.

vLexJustis (subscription). vLex Justis provides access to primary and secondary legal materials for selected jurisdictions, with an especially large collection of resources from Latin American countries. It can be browsed by material type and country. It provides an option for automatic machine-generation translation of non-English materials.

Westlaw (subscription). The US version of the subscription Westlaw database includes content for selected foreign jurisdictions. On the Westlaw homepage, type international in the search box and then click International Materials in the pop-up menu to browse by jurisdiction.

World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII) (open access). WorldLII is an online global legal research directory, maintained by regional legal information institutes, that provides free access to legal materials from jurisdictions around the world. WorldLII offers browsing by subject.

2. Animal Law

Animal Legal and Historical Center World Law Overview (open access). Maintained by Michigan State University, provides the option to browse animal protection laws by jurisdiction.

Global Animal Law Association’s Legislation Database (open access). This database includes national, European, and global animal welfare legislation and standards.

3. Antitrust/Competition Law

Note: Additional relevant resources are listed under Commercial Law.

Comparative Competition Law (open access). This is a project that “generates novel data on competition regimes across time and countries.” Its website provides access to competition law datasets and links to research articles that analyze those datasets.

Competition Policy International (CPI) (subscription). Information service for competition law and policy around the world; the “columns” library provides reports by region.

Global Competition Review’s Regional Reviews (open access). Global Competition Review offer yearly reviews of antitrust law and policy in multiple regions across the globe.

GlobaLex Comparative Competition Law Regimes (open access). This guide, written by Mohamed Gomaa and Tejas Sateesha Hinder, describes competition law regimes for selected jurisdictions: United Arab of Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, India, and the United Kingdom.

Kluwer Competition Law (subscription). Database for competition law that can be searched by policy area and jurisdiction; includes a number of comparative competition law treatises.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Competition Policy Frameworks Library (open access). Includes general and industry-specific competition policy reviews for many jurisdictions.

The Organization of American States (OAS) SICE Disciplines Database (open access). This database includes national legislation from jurisdictions throughout the Americas on several topics related to international trade, including competition policy.

Oxford Competition Law (subscription). Provides “recognised market-leading commentaries with rigorous, selective national case reports and analysis from EU member states.”

Westlaw Global Competition & Antitrust Library (subscription). Includes cases and legislation from selected jurisdictions, including the EU, the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

World Competition Database (open access). Provides access to laws and institutional profiles of competition systems from jurisdictions around the world; maintained by George Washington Law School’s Competition Law Center.

4. Bankruptcy/Insolvency Law

Note: Additional relevant resources are listed under Commercial Law.

European e-Justice Portal: Insolvency/Bankruptcy (open access). Database of selected domestic EU member state laws on insolvency/bankruptcy.

European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) Restructuring Related Legislation Database (open access). Database of laws from EC member countries (and Norway) related to insolvency and restructuring of companies.

Global Restructuring Review Regional Reviews (open access). Provides information about legal frameworks governing restructuring by region.

The World Bank Global Insolvency Law Database (open access). Online database of insolvency laws from selected jurisdictions.

5. Commercial Law (Including Arbitration, Business Entities, Securities, Trade, Banking, and Taxation)

Note: Additional relevant resources are listed under Antitrust/Competition Law and Bankruptcy/Insolvency Law.

Bank for International Settlements (BID) Research and Publications (open access). BIS’s regional research offices focusing on Asia and the Americas publish secondary sources on central banks, financial regulation, and other commercial law topics.

IBFD Tax Research Platform (subscription). The International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) Tax Research Platform offers a large collection of materials on cross-border and international taxation.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Country Information Database (open access). Includes documentation and analysis of commercial laws for selected jurisdictions, mainly under the heading of “Regional Report.”

Jus Mundi (subscription). Database of resources focusing on international trade law, commercial arbitration, and investment arbitration.

Kluwer Arbitration (subscription). Database for arbitration materials that includes laws, awards, and a large library of jurisdiction-specific secondary sources.

Kluwer Law Online (subscription). In addition to multiple relevant modules in the International Encyclopedia of Laws (IEL), Kluwer Law Online also provides access to several relevant treatises and encyclopedias with jurisdictional surveys, including Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions, Encyclopedia of International Commercial Litigation, Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, International Business Transactions, and International Encyclopedia of Agency and Distribution Agreements.

Organization of American States (OAS) SICE Disciplines Database (open access). Includes national legislation from jurisdictions throughout the Americas on several topics related to commercial law.

Oxford Legal Research Library (subscription). The OLRL includes materials, some with jurisdiction-specific content, in the areas of international commercial arbitration, international commercial law, financial and banking law, and private international law.

Pace Law Albert H. Kritzer CISG Database (open access). In addition to its other general materials related to the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), this database includes a database of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) from jurisdictions around the world.

Tax Notes (subscription). This database provides a portfolio of publications about tax news and policy and includes international content.

Thomson Reuters RIA Checkpoint (subscription). Its International Tax Library includes English translations of commercial and tax legislation from many foreign jurisdictions.

UN Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) International Investment Agreements Navigator (open access). Library of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and treaties with investment provisions (TIPs) for jurisdictions around the world.

UNILEX database on UNIDROIT Principles and CISG (open access). International case law and bibliography on the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts and the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

Wolters Kluwer VitalLaw (subscription). Formerly known as “Cheetah,” Wolters Kluwer’s VitalLaw database includes two “international” law libraries: securities, and tax.

World Bank Bank Regulation and Supervision Survey (open access). Compiles data on how banks are regulated and supervised around the world. The data is update periodically and downloadable as an Excel file.

6. Constitutional Law

Council of Europe’s European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) CODICES Database (open access). This database includes constitutions, laws, and case law reports related to constitutional law and human rights for many jurisdictions and regions around the world.

Comparative Constitutions Project (open access). This resource provides multijurisdictional systematic data for the study of the origins and consequences of constitutional choices.

Constitute (open access). This database that allows users to research the world’s constitutions by topic and jurisdiction.

Constitutions and Comparative Constitutional Study – Constituciones Políticas y Estudio Constitucional Comparativo (open access). Constitution library of the Political Database of the Americas, which is maintained by the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Center for Latin American Studies.

Constitutions of the World (open access). Publicly available directory of links to constitutions available online, maintained by the University of Trier in Germany.

GlobaLex Current Constitutional Developments in Latin America (open access). This guide, written by Dante Figueroa and Daniel Rocha de Farias, describes a number of key provisions incorporated into the constitutions of jurisdictions throughout the Americas.

GlobaLex Judicial Power and High Courts in Latin America (open access). This guide, written by Gloria Orrego Hoyos, describes the use of constitutional courts and the development of the power of judicial review in selected Latin American jurisdictions.

HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated Library (subscription). Provides access to an extensive collection of historical and current constitutional texts for every jurisdiction, in addition to numerous constitutional law secondary sources from Hein’s extensive collection of legal periodical articles and historical treatises.

Oxford Constitutions of the World (subscription). This resource, part of the Oxford Constitutional Law subscription database, is very comprehensive and includes sub-jurisdictions. Its secondary content includes references to Oxford University Press constitutional law treatises.

UN Women’s Global Gender Equality Constitutional Database (open access). Repository of provisions related to gender-equality from nearly 200 constitutions around the world.

7. Criminal Law and Procedure

American University Washington College of Law War Crimes Research Office Databases (open access). Includes databases for this organization’s Universal Jurisdiction project, which documents the jurisdiction rules for war crimes for more than 100 countries.

Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide Death Penalty Database (open access). Information on national capital punishment laws, including execution statistics.

Equipo Nizkor (Derechos.org) National Implementation of International Criminal Law Database (open access). Includes legislation and judicial decisions related to the domestic implementation of international criminal law serious crimes, such as crimes against peace (or the crime of aggression), crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes.

European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (EUROJUST) Publications Library (open access). This organization tracks and reports on domestic criminal statutes and prosecutions in jurisdictions in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

GlobaLex Comparative Criminal Procedure: A Select Bibliography (open access). This bibliography, written by Lyonette Louis-Jacques, lists a number of online sources for comparative criminal procedure research.

International Crimes Database (open access). This database includes a case law collection for international crimes from national tribunals.

International Criminal Court ICC Legal Tools Database (open access). This includes a “national jurisdictions” library, with a legal system overview, an overview to national criminal law and procedure, and national Rome Statute implementing legislation, for selected jurisdictions.

International Money Laundering Information Networks AMLID Database (open access). Includes national criminal legislation and regulations related to money laundering for selected jurisdictions.

International Nuremberg Principles Academy Sexual Crimes in Conflict Database (open access). Includes relevant literature and case law on this topic.

International Press Institute Legal Database of Defamation Laws in the EU and EU Candidate Countries (open access). Lists laws for civil and criminal defamation and more from many jurisdictions; browsable by country and type of law.

Interpol Documents Database (open access). Interpol is the International Criminal Police Organization, an IGO comprised of nearly 200 member countries. While the Interpol documents database does not provide access to domestic criminal laws, its publications, reports, and fact sheets may be helpful for comparative criminal law research.

Memory Laws in European and Comparative Perspective (MELA): Criminalization of Historical Denialisms Database (open access). Collection of national laws related to criminal laws in EU jurisdictions related to memory.

Trial International Universal Jurisdiction Database (open access). Lists cases related to universal jurisdiction in international criminal law; browsable by country.

United Nations Global Database on Violence Against Women (open access). Provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on measures undertaken by United Nations Member States to address all forms of violence against women.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Sharing Electronic Resources on Laws and Crime (SHERLOC) Portal (open access) This includes databases of both national legislation and case law related to organized crime (including human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, and firearms trafficking) and terrorism.

8. Election Law

ACE Electoral Knowledge Network Database (open access). Database of election-related information and documentation for more than 200 countries and territories.

International Foundation for Electoral Systems (open access). This organization’s website includes materials related to their work in monitoring elections and anti-corruption in jurisdictions around the world.

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Electoral System Design Database (open access). This database provides comparative data on election system for more than 200 countries.

9. Environmental Law

Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Database of Climate Change Laws of the World (open access). Provides online access to climate change laws, regulations, policy, statements, and directives issued by governments around the world.

ECOLEX (open access). Maintained by a coalition of UN organizations, a comprehensive global source of primary and secondary environmental law sources.

Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Laws Database (open access). Provides access to EIA laws and regulations and summaries of the EIA system for selected countries. A country comparison tool is also available.

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations FAOLEX Database (open access). This is a comprehensive legislative and policy database for food, agriculture, and renewable natural resources.

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations FISHLEX Database (open access). Database of national legislation and bilateral/multilateral agreements related to foreign fishing in coastal waters.

Global Gender and Climate Alliance: Gender Climate Tracker Country Profiles (open access). Information about how and to what extent countries are addressing women’s human rights and the linkages between climate change and gender.

International Energy Agency (IEA): Countries (open access). Information provided for each member state includes a list of laws related to energy and the environment.

Oil, Gas, and Energy Law (OGEL) Global Energy Law and Regulation Portal (subscription). Includes a library of jurisdiction-specific collections of energy-related laws and regulations for many jurisdictions.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Nuclear Legislation Legal Frameworks for Nuclear Activities Database (open access). Includes regulatory and institutional frameworks governing nuclear activities in OECD and NEA member countries.

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Environmental Rights Database (open access). Describes initiatives taken to establish, protect, and enforce environmental rights; offers browsing by jurisdiction.

United Nations Habitat UrbanLex Urban Law Database (open access). Includes selected national laws governing the management and development of the urban environment.

Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC) Nuclear Security Legislation Database (open access). Includes environmental and other laws related to nuclear energy from jurisdictions around the world and can be browsed by country.

WATERLEX Database (open access). Database of national legislation related to water resources management. Note that the website is an archive and that the WaterLex project ended in 2020.

10. Human Rights (including Child Law, Disability Law, Family Law, Gender Law, Health Law, LGBTQ+ Law, and Refugee/Asylum Law)

Note: Additional relevant resources are listed under Constitutional Law, Criminal Law/Procedure, and Environmental Law.

African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) State Reports (open access). Member state reports on the implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) into their domestic law; browsable by country. This organization also maintains a separate case law database on their site.

AALL FCIL-SIS Asian Law Interest Group: Asian Legal Responses to COVID-19 (open access). Provides information about laws related to COVID-19 for selected jurisdictions in the Middle East and Asia.

AALL FCIL-SIS Latin American Law Interest Group: Law Librarians Monitoring the Legal Response to COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean (open access). Includes reports and research resource directories for selected jurisdictions in the Americas.

Amnesty International: Explore by Country (open access). Amnesty International’s country reports can be valuable secondary sources for human rights research, as they frequently cite and describe domestic human rights laws and are updated frequently.

Antislavery in Domestic Legislation Database (open access). Provides citations to relevant domestic legislation on this topic enacted by UN member states.

Bayefsky.com Documents by State (open access). Jurisdictional directory of materials related to ratification of human rights treaties.

Child Rights International Network (CRIN) National Law Profiles (open access). National law profiles related to children’s rights for more than 180 countries. Note: the URL “crin.org,” without the word “home” and which included a prior version of this database, is now an archive.

Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute (LII) Women & Justice Collection: Countries (open access). Provides English-language summaries of seminal women’s rights legislation and judicial opinions from selected jurisdictions around the world.

Council of Europe’s European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) CODICES database (open access). This database includes constitutions, laws, and case law reports related to constitutional law and human rights for many jurisdictions and regions around the world.

Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) International Disability Laws Index (open access). Collection of links to domestic legislation, browsable by jurisdiction, related to protecting the rights of people with disabilities.

European e-Justice Portal: Family Matters and Inheritance (open access). Database of domestic EU member state laws on the following topics: inheritance, divorce/legal separation, property in marriage/civil partnerships, parental responsibility (child custody and contact rights), and family maintenance.

European e-Justice Portal: Your Rights (open access). Links to EU member state legislation on the following topics: defendants’ rights in criminal proceedings, crime victims’ rights, and the right to public documents.

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Gender and Land Rights Database (open access). Database of laws reflecting gender inequalities embedded in land rights.

Gale Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive (subscription). Provides access to digitized books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, legal documents, court records, and more from multiple jurisdictions.

Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law’s Global Health and Human Rights Database (open access). Includes national legislation and case law on several topics related to health and human rights.

GlobaLex Transnational and Comparative Family Law: Harmonization and Implementation (open access). This guide, written by Marylin Johnson Raisch, explains how international treaties and agreements addressing family law issues have been incorporated into domestic legal systems.

HURIDOCS (Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems) Human Rights Research Databases (open access). HURIDOCS is an NGO that has participated in many projects related to human rights around the world; open-access databases produced in connection with these projects are listed in this directory.

Human Rights Watch (HRW): Explore by Country (open access). Amnesty International’s country reports can be valuable secondary sources for human rights research, as they frequently cite and describe domestic human rights laws and are updated frequently.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Country Reports (open access). Reports on domestic protections for human rights in selected member states, includes citations to primary sources. Most of the reports are available in English.

International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (Interights) Commonwealth Case Law Database (open access). Provides summaries of recent human rights decisions from national courts in Commonwealth jurisdictions.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) All National Practice Database (open access). Database of materials reflecting the implementation of international humanitarian law norms into domestic legal systems.

International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) Resources (open access). ILGA publications include legislation mapping for jurisdictions around the world in multiple areas related to LGBTQ+ rights.

Landesa Land Rights Research Resources (open access). Research materials related to land rights and development around the world.

Organization of American States (OAS) Department of International Law: Family and Child Law Resources (open access). Includes an option to browse by jurisdiction for laws related to the rights of children and families in selected jurisdictions in the Americas.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Legislationline Database (open access). Database of national legislation related to human rights and the rule of law; coverage is the 57 OSCE participating states.

Respect International Resource Center (open access). Research materials for human rights advocacy around the world, browsable by region and industry.

Sexual Rights Initiative Sexual Rights Database (open access). Provides national laws related to sexual rights; browsable by jurisdiction.

Statelessness Case Law Database (open access). Provides national and regional case law covering Europe, as well as international jurisprudence addressing statelessness.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Child Marriage Country Profiles (open access). Reports on the countries in which the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage has been implemented.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws (open access). Includes legislation related to cultural immovable and movable heritage, cultural diversity, and other topics.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Refworld Database (open access). Database of laws, case law, and country information related to protections for refugees.

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI) (open access). This provides access to country-specific human rights information emanating from UN system human rights mechanisms.

University of Minnesota Human Rights Library Resources for Researching Country Conditions (open access). is a database or primary materials related to human rights, organized alphabetically by jurisdiction.

World Health Organization (WHO) Global Abortion Policies Database (open access). Documents laws related to obtaining abortions and providing abortion care from jurisdictions around the world; includes a country comparison tool.

World Health Organization (WHO) More Inclusiveness Needed in Disability and Development (MiND) MiNDbank (open access). Database of jurisdiction-specific resources covering mental health, substance abuse, disability, general health, human rights and development; browsable by country.

11. Intellectual Property Law

Note: Additional relevant resources are listed under Commercial Law.

Darts-IP Database (subscription). Extensive database of patent, trademark, and domain name decisions from national courts around the world.

Kluwer IP Law (subscription). Database of primary and secondary legal materials related to intellectual property that can be browsed by jurisdiction.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Diversity of Cultural Expressions Periodic Reports (open access). Member state reports on how they are incorporating their obligations under the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions into their domestic law.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): WIPO Lex (open access). Database of national IP laws and treaties; it includes WIPO, WTO, and UN member nations.

12. Labor and Employment Law (Including Occupational Health and Safety Law and Social Security Law)

International Labour Organization (ILO) EPLex (open access). Database of national legislation regulating temporary contracts and employment termination legislation.

International Labour Organization (ILO) LEGOSH (open access). This is the ILO’s global database on occupational safety and health legislation.

International Labour Organization (ILO) NATLEX (open access). Database of national labor, social security, and human rights legislation, browsable by jurisdiction or by subject. There is a “user-friendly” NATLEX interface called ILO NORMLEX (https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/) that also contains information from several of the ILO’s “legacy” databases.

Kluwer Law Online (subscription). In addition to multiple relevant modules in the International Encyclopedia of Laws (IEL), Kluwer Law Online also provides access to the International Labour and Employment Compliance Handbook, which includes several jurisdiction profiles.

13. Legal Profession and Practice

Thomson Reuters UK Practical Law: Regulation of the Legal Professional Global Guide (open access). This is an open-source library of articles describing how the practice of law is regulated in several jurisdictions.

14. Maritime and Air and Space Law

Admiralty & Maritime Law Guide – Maritime Law by Country (open access). Lists domestic maritime laws for selected jurisdictions.

International Seabed Authority National Legislation Database (open access). Laws related to the national implementation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, submitted by member states.

Kluwer Law Online (subscription). This database provides electronic access to two important treatises on this topic, both of which include information about national legislation and practice for selected jurisdictions: Maritime Law Handbook, and Montreal Convention (Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air).

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs National Space Law Database (open access). Provides a collection of domestic laws related to the exploration and use of outer space.

United Nations Office of Legal Affairs Maritime Zones and Maritime Delimitation Database (open access). Includes national legislation and state practice information related to the implementation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

15. Military Law, International Humanitarian Law (Armed Conflict Law, Law of War), National Security Law, and Counterterrorism Law

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) All National Practice Database (open access). Database of materials reflecting the implementation of international humanitarian law norms into domestic legal systems.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Legal Frameworks for Nuclear Activities Database (open access). Provides regulatory and institutional frameworks governing nuclear activities in OECD and NEA member countries.

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Legislation Compendium (open access). Collection of legislation enacted by States Parties to implement the Chemical Weapons convention.

United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs National Legislation on Transfer of Arms, Military Equipment, and Dual-Use Goods and Technology Database (open access). Includes national legislation on this topic provided by member states to the UN.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 Committee National Implementation Legislative Database (open access). Includes primary legal materials, organized by country, related to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on the non-proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons.

16. Property Law

Note: Additional relevant resources are listed under Human Rights.

European e-Justice Portal: Family Matters and Inheritance (open access). Database of domestic EU member state laws on the following topics: inheritance, divorce/legal separation, property in marriage/civil partnerships, parental responsibility (child custody and contact rights), and family maintenance.

European e-Justice Portal: Land Registers in EU Countries (open access). Database of domestic EU member laws related to land registries, which register, examine, and store land and property information and make this information available to the public.

Landesa Land Rights Research Resources (open access). Research materials related to land rights and development around the world.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws (open access). Includes legislation related to cultural immovable and movable heritage, cultural diversity, and other topics.

United Nations Habitat UrbanLex Urban Law Database (open access). Includes selected national laws governing the management and development of the urban environment.

17. Public Administration Law (Including Access to Government Information, Corruption, Governance, Public Procurement, and Provision of Public Services)

Note: Additional relevant resources are listed under Election Law.

Chr. Michelsen Institute U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Center Publications (open access). Some publications describe particular legal challenges fighting corruption in selected jurisdictions.

European Commission: Public Procurement in EU Countries (open access). Includes a directory of national portals for information about public procurement for EU countries.

Freedominfo.org Freedom of Information Database (open access). Includes national freedom of information laws and other materials, organized regionally and then by country.

Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law’s Global Health and Human Rights Database (open access). Includes national legislation and case law on several topics related to health and human rights.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Country Reports on the Implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (open access). Monitoring reports for OECD Anti-Bribery Convention member states, browsable by country.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Public Governance Database (open access). Includes information about law and policy for selected jurisdictions; browsable by country.

States and Institutions of Governance in Latin America (open access). Database of information about legal and political institutions in Latin America.

Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (open access). This resource, which is updated yearly and browsable by jurisdiction, provides country reports that include information about the implementation of domestic anti-corruption laws.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Diversity of Cultural Expressions Periodic Reports (open access). Member state reports on how they are incorporating their obligations under the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions into their domestic law.

United Nations Habitat UrbanLex Urban Law Database (open access). Includes selected national laws governing the management and development of the urban environment.

World Bank Global Public Procurement Database (open access). Provides data about country procurement systems and country eProcurement implementations at a global level.

World Bank Public-Private Partnership Legal Resource Center (PPPLRC) (open access). Database of national laws governing public-private partnerships in infrastructure projects.

18. Religion and Law

GlobaLex Religious Legal Systems in Comparative Law – A Guide to Introductory Research (open access). This guide, written by Marylin Johnson Raisch, discusses research across multiple religious legal systems.

International Center for Law and Religion Studies Religlaw Database (open access). Provides law and religion frameworks for selected jurisdictions, including secondary sources citing primary materials. Note that, while the database is accessible, it is no longer being maintained as of 2021.

19. Technology/Data Law

Asian School of Cyber Laws’ Global Cyber Law Database (open access). Includes national technology laws from around the world.

DLA Paper Data Protection Laws of the World Database (open access). National data protection legislation maintained by the international law firm DLA Piper; a comparison tool is also available.

International Technology Union’s (ITU) National Cybersecurity Strategies Repository (open access). Collection of documents outlining strategies for selected ITU member states.

NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) International Cyber Law Interactive Toolkit: National Positions (open access). List of publicly available national positions on the application of international law to cyber operations.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Global Cyberlaw Tracker (open access). Tracks e-commerce legislation (e-transactions, data protection and privacy, cybercrime, and consumer protection) in UNCTAD member states.

WorldLII Global Data Protection, Privacy & Surveillance Law Library (open access). Allows the researcher to search all of the WorldLII databases specializing in data protection, privacy law, and surveillance law in one location.

20. Tort Law

International Press Institute Legal Database of Defamation Laws (open access). Lists laws for civil and criminal defamation from many jurisdictions, primarily in Europe but also elsewhere, browsable by country and type of law.