Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA)
An Act to authorize electronic surveillance to obtain foreign intelligence information.
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Foreign Intelligence Gathering Laws
Two 2016 reports from the Law Library of Congress provide overviews of several jurisdictions' intelligence gathering laws:
- Foreign Intelligence Gathering Laws(June 2016). Offers a review of laws regulating the collection of intelligence in the European Union (EU) and Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
- Government Access to Encrypted Communications(May 2016). Describes the law of 12 nations and the European Union on whether the government, pursuant to a court order or other government process, can require companies to decrypt encrypted communications or provide the government with the means to do so. Some of the surveys provide additional information on related surveillance issues like the law on monitoring and intercepting communications.
Intelligence Laws of North, Central and South America are presented in a table in Intelligence Management in the Americas (June 2015).
Foreign Law Sources
- Foreign Law GuideProvides source information for over 150 countries.
Foreign Law Guide > Defense & National Security > [country] > State Intelligence - Lexis+: InternationalProvides some jurisdictions' primary law.
- LexisLibrary Halsbury's Laws / LexisLibrary Legislation (UK)(On campus access only). Provides access to several resources from LexisLibrary on UK law and legislation.
- vLexProvides full-text access to legislation, case law, books, journals, contracts, and forms from 140 countries. Updated daily.
- Westlaw: International MaterialsProvides some jurisdictions' legislation (Barbados, Canada, Cayman Islands, EU, Hong Kong, Korea, UK & Scotland).
- WorldLIIWorld Legal Information Institute, a free, independent and non-profit global legal research facility, provides access to primary laws on privacy and surveillance among other topics.
