Global & Comparative Environmental Law
A basic guide to global and comparative environmental law research.
Access Icon Key
| These linked icons indicate your access to the resources discussed in this guide. | |
 |
Library Collection |
 |
Website |
 |
Subscription Database (Law School Only) |
 |
Subscription Database (University-wide) |
 |
Bloomberg Law (Password Required) |
 |
Lexis (Password Required) |
 |
Westlaw (Password Required) |
Court Decisions
- AustLII(University of New South Wales and University of Technology Sidney Faculties of Law)
Provides free internet access to Australasian legal materials including primary legal materials (legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals); and secondary legal materials created by public bodies for purposes of public access (for example, law reform and royal commission reports), and a substantial collection of law journals. - Dockets and Court Documents by Country(UCLA Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library)
"This guide is a work in progress. We are adding information as we obtain it. Rather than wait until it is 100% complete, we are making it available as we work so that our worldwide colleagues can benefit along the way." - Foreign Law GuideProvides information about the legal systems of over 150 jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction includes an introductory essay regarding its historical legal developments, along with references to the major codes, national gazettes, and collections of laws and jurisprudence issued within the country. There is also a subject compilation of references to significant laws, regulations, and jurisprudence. Full text access to over 450 political science and international relations journals as well as dissertations, country reports, and policy papers.
- Foreign Legal Gazette Collections(Law Library of Congress)
The gazette collection includes current, historical, and subnational jurisdictions. Official gazettes are primary sources of law published by national governments to disseminate new legislation, regulations, and decisions of governmental bodies. These publications may also contain other information including the text of international agreements, court decisions, official announcements, and government notices. For countries with civil law systems, the official gazette often serves as the sole source of the authoritative texts of laws until updated codes are published. In most countries, a law enters into force on the date of publication in the official gazette. - ICLR OnlineThe Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR) provides this online platform for authoritative case law from 1865 to the present. Contains Law Reports, Weekly Law Reports, Business Law Reports, Industrial Cases Reports, and Public & Third Sector Law Reports. Also provides appellate history of a case and, under "Subsequent Consideration," lists opinions that have cited the case.
- International Encyclopedia of Laws (IEL) Environmental Law: Country ReportsReports on environmental law in selected countries.
- International Legal Materials (ILM)Published by the American Society of International Law (ASIL), this journal is an unofficial source for current and historical treaties, as well as judicial and arbitral decisions, national legislation, international organizations resolutions, and other documents.
- Lexis+UKAccess to extensive resources from Lexis+UK platform on UK law and legislation, including: All England Law Reports European Cases, All England Reprints, Atkin's Court Forms, Bill Tracker & Amended Legislation, Encyclopedia of Forms and Precedents, Halsbury's Laws of England, Halsbury's Is it in Force?, Halsbury's Annotations, Halsbury's SI Citator, Journals Index, Scottish Parliament Acts & Statutory Instruments, UK Parliament Acts & Statutory Instruments, and UK Act & Statutory Instruments Summaries. University-wide access; IP authenticated and off-campus access via EZProxy.
- Lexis: International MaterialsIncludes court cases from selected countries.
- Oxford Reports on International Law (ORIL)Decisions on public international law from international courts and tribunals, as well as domestic courts and ad hoc tribunals. Contains Oxford Reports on: International Law in Domestic Courts, International Criminal Law, International Human Rights Law, International Courts of General Jurisdiction, and International Investment Claims.
- vLexJustisFull-text access to legislation, case law, books, journals, contracts, and forms from 140 countries. Updated daily.
- Westlaw: International CasesSelected court decisions from Australia, Canada, European Union, Hong Kong, Korea and the United Kingdom.
Laws & Regulations
- AustLII(University of New South Wales and University of Technology Sidney Faculties of Law)
Provides free internet access to Australasian legal materials including primary legal materials (legislation, treaties and decisions of courts and tribunals); and secondary legal materials created by public bodies for purposes of public access (for example, law reform and royal commission reports), and a substantial collection of law journals. - ChinaLawInfoChinese language (some English content is available) database from the Legal Information Center of the Peking University. ChinaLawInfo includes Chinese statutes and regulations, plus secondary legal information such as judicial explanations, research articles, book reviews, links to online Chinese legal journals, a directory of Chinese law scholars, and information about law making and law enforcement.
- Euro-Lex: Directory of Legal Acts(European Union (EU))
Browse by subject to find EU legislation currently in force. Documents covered include: agreements, directives, regulations, and decisions. - FAOLEX Database(Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO))
FAOLEX contains treaties, laws and regulations on food, agriculture and renewable natural resources from all over the world. - Foreign Law GuideProvides information about the legal systems of over 150 jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction includes an introductory essay regarding its historical legal developments, along with references to the major codes, national gazettes, and collections of laws and jurisprudence issued within the country. There is also a subject compilation of references to significant laws, regulations, and jurisprudence.
- Foreign Legal Gazette Collections(Law Library of Congress)
The gazette collection includes current, historical, and subnational jurisdictions. Official gazettes are primary sources of law published by national governments to disseminate new legislation, regulations, and decisions of governmental bodies. These publications may also contain other information including the text of international agreements, court decisions, official announcements, and government notices. For countries with civil law systems, the official gazette often serves as the sole source of the authoritative texts of laws until updated codes are published. In most countries, a law enters into force on the date of publication in the official gazette. - International Encyclopedia of Laws (IEL) Energy Law: Country ReportsReports on energy law in selected countries.
- International Encyclopedia of Laws (IEL) Environmental Law: Country ReportsReports on environmental law in selected countries.
- International Energy Agency (IEA) Policies DatabaseProvides access to information on past, existing or planned government policies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and support the development and deployment of renewables and other clean energy technologies. The database brings together data from the IEA/IRENA Renewable Energy Policies and Measures Database, the IEA Energy Efficiency Database, the Addressing Climate Change database, and the Building Energy Efficiency Policies (BEEP) database, along with information on CCUS and methane abatement policies.
- International Legal Materials (ILM)Published by the American Society of International Law (ASIL), this journal is an unofficial source for current and historical treaties, as well as judicial and arbitral decisions, national legislation, international organizations resolutions and other documents.
- Law and Climate Change ToolkitAn online and open database being developed by a partnership among the UN Climate Change secretariat, UN Environment, and the Commonwealth Secretariat working in collaboration with partner countries, other international organizations and research institutions.
- Lexis+UKAccess to extensive resources from Lexis+UK platform on UK law and legislation, including: All England Law Reports European Cases, All England Reprints, Atkin's Court Forms, Bill Tracker & Amended Legislation, Encyclopedia of Forms and Precedents, Halsbury's Laws of England, Halsbury's Is it in Force?, Halsbury's Annotations, Halsbury's SI Citator, Journals Index, Scottish Parliament Acts & Statutory Instruments, UK Parliament Acts & Statutory Instruments, and UK Act & Statutory Instruments Summaries. University-wide access; IP authenticated and off-campus access via EZProxy.
- Lexis: InternationalIncludes legislation and regulations from selected countries.
- Practical Law: EnvironmentA Q&A guide to environmental laws and regulations in selected countries written by practitioners.
- vLexJustisFull-text access to legislation, case law, books, journals, contracts, and forms from 140 countries. Updated daily.
- Westlaw: International MaterialsContent includes administrative materials, legislation, treatises, journals and current awareness.
Citing Foreign Materials
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation by The Bluebook - Table 2 - Foreign Jurisdictions
Starting with the 21st edition of the Bluebook, Table 2 (Foreign Jurisdictions) is not available in print. The table includes sources of law from over 40 jurisdictions outside the United States of America.
Access to the table is free: https://www.legalbluebook.com/bluebook/v21/tables/t2-foreign-jurisdictions
International Citator and Research Guide: The Greenbook by "Presents each citation standard in the context of that country or organization's history and legal institutions. It is also a general resource of basic legal background on international organizations and countries that would otherwise be difficult to research. It can be used as a companion to The Bluebook, whose coverage of international sources is necessarily limited. Staff members researched legal as well as other existing governmental citations in order to create and/or interpret and implement citations. The examples reflect local or international citation practice for documents written in English, harmonizing them to provide a flexible global standard of legal citation. Each chapter also has an introduction to provide the country's background and political structure."
Volume 1. International organizations
Volume 2. Europe
Volume 3. Latin America & Caribbean
Volume 4. Asia
Volume 5. North Africa & Middle East
Volume 6. Africa (Sub-Saharan)
Related Guides
- GlobaLex(NYU School of Law, Hauser Global Law School Program)
An online legal publication dedicated to international and foreign law research. - Global Legal Monitor(Law Library of Congress)
An online publication covering legal news and developments worldwide. It is updated frequently and draws on information from official national legal publications and reliable press sources. Browse by topic or jurisdiction. - Guide to Law Online: Nations of the World(Law Library of Congress)
An annotated collection of links to free online legal materials and pertinent resources in the Library of Congress catalog, organized by jurisdiction.