Tools and Strategies

 judges as makers of primary law  court decisions complement legislation  codes merely compile statutes  procedure very influential

 civil codes as closed system  courts may not have power to review executive or legislative decisions (but cf. constitutional courts)  private vs. public law  judges not supposed to be making law  importance of “doctrine”

 Most often a “mixed” system  Qur'an, Sunnah, fiqh  Most sources in Arabic  May be codified

 Common-law systems may codify (e.g., UCC)  Greater role for precedent in civil law systems  More constitutional courts; have invalidated parts of codes

 Identify resources available to you  Understand country’s legal system ◦ Reynolds & Flores ◦ Country guides ◦ Secondary sources ◦ Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia

 Country-specific research guide  Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest (Lexis/web)  Local law library—use catalog, local guides

 Online or print  Not country-specific!  More later!

 GlobaLex (country guides)  WorldLII  government sites  search engines  GLIN

 Controlled vocabulary (index)

 Unavailable for most foreign legal materials  Expensive  Often outdated  Usually not authoritative  Free electronic translations (e.g., Google Translate) can help for gist ONLY

 Strategies diverge ◦ By country  developed vs. developing  common law vs. civil  English-language vs. other ◦ By subject  commercial vs. other  human rights aspect?

 available for lucrative practice areas  commentary or primary materials or both  generally in English  not always up-to-date  often looseleaf (e.g., )  Some listed on Researching Foreign Law guide at U Minn Library  Charlotte Bynum’s guide at GlobaLex

 updated annually  skeletal information on basic legal questions  some citations  covers fewer countries than Reynolds & Flores

 “Doing Business in…” guides  government websites  monographs  periodical articles

 Criminal law -- Buffalo collection  Litigation – practice guides  Administrative – agency websites  Human rights – NGO sites  Environment – UNEP, FAO, etc.  IP –WIPO, UNESCO, even US treatises  Labor law --NATLEX

 Mostly common-law, English-language jurisdictions  Coverage somewhat volatile

 Mostly common-law, English-language jurisdictions  Coverage somewhat volatile

 electronic discussion lists (listservs)  Foreign embassies  Law Library of Congress  State Department country desk  translators  foreign counsel