LAW International Law

This guide is intended to provide resources to help with your international legal research, not for foreign jurisdictions.

Research Process

It is highly recommended that you begin your legal research by looking at materials that describe or explain the law. These materials will explain legal principles, and identify legal terms and keywords you could use in your further research. You are likely to find citations to related cases and statutes in the footnotes as well. These materials include encyclopedias, books, and articles.

Library Search Box
Search many of our databases and collections as well as from traditional bibliographic sources (journal articles, dissertations, newspapers, etc.). It does not search legal databases.

Books

Books provide a deeper discussion of the legal topics than encyclopedias. Most legal books discussion a broad area of law, such as criminal law or employment law. Scholarly books often focus on a narrower topic and provide a deeper analysis of the legal issues.

Use the library search box to find print or electronic books in our collection. Note the call number and the location (e.g., Law-1^st floor) of each print book. You will need to sign-on to access electronic books.

Library Search Box
Search many of our databases and collections as well as from traditional bibliographic sources (journal articles, dissertations, newspapers, etc.). It does not search legal databases.

Certain legal texts are published in binders for easy updating. These are called looseleaf sets. Looseleaf sets published by Carswell and Canada Law Book are available electronically on:

Westlaw Canada This link opens in a new window
- Access to subscribed content only
Platform for database products published by Thomas Reuters Canada. Includes primary sources, commentary, court documents, forms and precedents, and finding tools. Full text source for Canadian law resources. Includes the Canadian Abridgement Digests and Canadian Encyclopedic Digest; cases (reported and unreported), commentary, legislations, journal articles covering the areas of general law, family law and criminal law.

Selected looseleaf sets published by LexisNexis or Butterworths are available electronically on:

Lexis Advance Quicklaw This link opens in a new window
Lexis Advances Quicklaw provides access to an extensive database of over 2 million cases, jurisdictional sources, including exclusive sources like Halsbury's Laws of Canada and Canadian Tort Law. This database includes QuickCite, which ensures decisions are based on good authority by cases. Lexis Advance QuickLaw provides access to Canadian law (legislation, jurisprudence, and doctrine) as well as law sources from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.

Selected Textbooks

Here's a link to a search for international Law Books in our collection published in the past 10 years.

Library Search Box

Articles

Journal articles provide in-depth information on narrow legal topics and, often, more current information than books provide. There are several ways of search for legal articles. The library search box and Google Scholar can both be used to find some articles. We subscribe to several databases that contain the full-text of law review articles from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries

See our research guide for links to open access and database sources for legal articles.

Finding Law Journal Articles
This guide is intended to help students and researchers in law by leading to information sources that will assist in finding articles.

There are also general full text sources that may provide legal articles.

Some sources may be restricted to University of Calgary users or to Faculty of Law users.

Library Search Box
Search many of our databases and collections as well as from traditional bibliographic sources (journal articles, dissertations, newspapers, etc.). It does not search legal databases.

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
To set up Google Scholar to detect UofC subscribed resources, refer to Google Scholar setup (in the Natural Sciences Programme LibGuide)
A subset of Google that only indexes academic journals. Pros: searching is very easy - just like for regular Google. Covers journals in many disciplines. Cons: Limited functionality for filtering results. May include some journals of dubious quality.

The United Nations (UN) is likely the most commonly known and used international organization for legal research. Here are selected links to help you find books and documents produced by the UN.

United Nations Law Collection This link opens in a new window
The United Nations Law Collection presents exact reproductions of major United Nations legal publications, including the complete collection of the United Nations Treaty Series.

This collection contains various finding aids to help you quickly locate United Nations materials. You can search for a United Nations Treaty by treaty/registration number, date, parties involved, Kavass subject, and more. Or, you can pull up the full text of a United Nations Treaty by inserting the UNTS citation. Once you have located a specific United Nations Treaty, we have included a link to retrieve law review articles that cite that specific treaty. This allows you to not only find relevant articles that cite the treaty, but also to further link to documents such as U.S. Statutes, which are sometimes cited with the UNTS citation. We have also included an International Agreements by Popular Name index that will allow you to quickly jump to a treaty or treaties relevant to a popular treaty name.
United Nations Treaty Collection This link opens in a new window
Includes online versions of the print publications: Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General, which incorporates the detailed status of over 485 multilateral treaties, and: (United Nations) Treaty series, which contains the texts of over 30,000 bilateral and multilateral treaties in their authentic language(s), along with a translation into English and French, as appropriate, for those treaties registered with the Secretariat. Also includes photographs of treaty signature ceremonies and Treaty handbook.
Official document system of the United Nations This link opens in a new window
The United Nations Official Documents System (ODS) is the electronic repository for official documents published by the United Nations. Comprehensive, though not complete, coverage of all types of publicly-available UN documentation starting in the early to mid-1990s. Categories of documents included are: Resolutions going back to 1946 (Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and Trusteeship Council); Selected Security Council and General Assembly documents going back to 1985; Meeting records; Daily journals; and bulletins. Not included in ODS: UN sales publications; UN public information materials; UN press releases and briefings; UN Treaty Series; documents that are not publicly released.
United Nations digital library This link opens in a new window
Searchable database which offers public free access to current and historical United Nations documents, maps, speeches, voting data, as well as non-sales publications. System features include linked data between related documentation such as resolutions, meeting records and voting, and refining of searches by UN body, agency or type of document.
UNdata This link opens in a new window
Find official statistics produced by countries and compiled by United Nations data system, as well as estimates and projections. The domains covered are agriculture, education, energy, industry, labour, national accounts, population and tourism. You can also find indicators such as Millennium Development Goals

Here are links to specific databases to find books and documents produced by international organizations other than the UN.

OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
The OECD iLibrary, the new platform giving seamless and comprehensive access to statistical data, books, journals and working papers, is now available. It replaces SourceOECD... OECD iLibrary contains all the publications and datasets released by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF) since 1998.
IMF eLibrary This link opens in a new window
The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) eLibrary simplifies analysis and research with direct access to the IMF's periodicals, books, working papers and studies, and data and statistical tools. You will find information and perspective on macroeconomics, globalization, development, trade and aid, technical assistance, demographics, emerging markets, policy advice, poverty reduction, and so much more.

Legal Databases

Databases may be restricted to University of Calgary users or to Faculty of Law users. Should you need any further assistance with your research, please call 403-220-7274 or e-mail.

Legal Databases
A list of legal databases available at the University of Calgary.

HeinOnline, best known for the Law Journals Library, has several international law and treaty databases. These include:

Foreign & International Law Resources Database This link opens in a new window
Covers publications from the American Society of International Law and yearbooks and serials from around the world, as well as the Hague Permanent Court of International Justice series. Includes U.S. law digests, international tribunals and judicial decisions and other significant works relating to foreign and international law. Individual title coverage varies.
Harvard Research in International Law This link opens in a new window
The collection includes access to the reprint of The Harvard Research in International Law: Contemporary Analysis and Appraisal and Original Materials. It also includes hundreds of links to journal articles and treaties, as well as hundreds of footnotes to connect you to other sites inside HeinOnline.
History of International Law This link opens in a new window
This collection contains more than 825 titles and 660,000 pages dating back to 1690 on subjects such as: war and peace, Nuremberg Trials, Law of the Sea, international arbitration, and Hague Conferences and Conventions and much more.
U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library This link opens in a new window
Searchable database includes all U.S. treaties, whether currently in force, expired, or not yet officially published. Includes such prominent collections as the United States Treaties and Other International Agreements set (commonly referred to as the "Blue set") as well as famous sets from Bevans, Miller, Mallory and others. Supporting materials include historical books and periodicals relating to U.S. treaty-making as well as Congressional hearings and documents. Includes Kappler's Indian affairs, laws and treaties.
United Nations Law Collection This link opens in a new window
The United Nations Law Collection presents exact reproductions of major United Nations legal publications, including the complete collection of the United Nations Treaty Series.

This collection contains various finding aids to help you quickly locate United Nations materials. You can search for a United Nations Treaty by treaty/registration number, date, parties involved, Kavass subject, and more. Or, you can pull up the full text of a United Nations Treaty by inserting the UNTS citation. Once you have located a specific United Nations Treaty, we have included a link to retrieve law review articles that cite that specific treaty. This allows you to not only find relevant articles that cite the treaty, but also to further link to documents such as U.S. Statutes, which are sometimes cited with the UNTS citation. We have also included an International Agreements by Popular Name index that will allow you to quickly jump to a treaty or treaties relevant to a popular treaty name.
World Treaty Library This link opens in a new window
Brings together Rohn, Dumont, Bevans, Martens, League of Nations, United States, and United Nations treaties into one easy-to-use and fully searchable database. Search a comprehensive treaty index by keywords, title, parties, sign date or citation. Also included are hundreds of related treaty publications, scholarly articles chosen by our editors, and a bibliography of related publications--Provided by publisher. Includes a link to US Treaties & Agreements.

Interdisciplinary Databases

For a list of interdisciplinary databases, please visit the Subject Guides page. These databases are good places to start for your secondary research.

Subject Guides

PAIS Index This link opens in a new window
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) Index includes PAIS International and PAIS Archive. PAIS International database contains continually updated records for over half a million journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. PAIS Archive is a retrospective conversion of the PAIS Annual Cumulated Bulletin, and covers monographs, periodical articles, notes and announcements, and analytics.
International Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA), produced by the International Political Science Association, includes current indexing and abstracts of the world's leading journals in political science. This database covers over 1,000 journals published from 1951 to the present.
International Studies Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window
'The International Studies Encyclopedia', published in association with the International Studies Association (ISA), is the most comprehensive reference work of its kind for the fields of international studies and international relations. It brings together specially commissioned, peer reviewed essays, written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers.

Subject Headings & Keywords

International law textbooks can be found throughout the Bennett Jones Law Library.

You may wish to search by subject in the library catalogue and databases include:

General Topics

International law
Treaties
International relations
Government liability (international law)

More Specific Topics

Arbitration: public international law
Boundaries (international law)
Environmental protection: international law
International adjudication
International administrative law
International agencies
International courts and tribunals
International criminal law
International disputes
International environmental law
International human rights
International labor law
International organization
International trade
International waterways
Sanctions (international law)
Sovereignty
Succession of states

Last Updated: Apr 10, 2024 10:10 AM
URL: https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/guides/internationallaw
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Subjects: Law

Tags: international courts, international law, international organizations, law, legal databases, legal research, treaties

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