Comparative Constitutional Law

Professor: George Isaacson ( )
Librarian: Ginny Hopcroft ( )
Fall 2004


The list of resources below is organized by function. You will probably initially read articles from print and online journals to understand and begin to analyze your topic. You may also consult web sites for background and analysis. You are then likely to search for international constitutional law cases mentioned in the articles or exemplifying your topic, and the final section lists sources for case law.

Journals and Indexes/Databases

International Journal of Constitutional Law
http://www3.oup.co.uk/ijclaw/
Online; Recent journal subscription

Academic Search Premier
Online 1990-
Academic Search Premier indexes over 1800 English language periodicals in the social sciences, humanities, and science, including law. About 60% of articles indexed are available in fulltext.

Lexis Nexis Academic
Online Date coverage varies
All articles are fulltext. Database provides legal information and news. Under “Legal Research” the sections for Secondary Literature—legal news and law reviews--and International Legal Materials will be most useful.

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS)
Online 1972-
Citation index only. PAIS indexes "publications on all subjects that bear on contemporary public issues and the making and evaluation of public policy, irrespective of source or traditional disciplinary boundaries."

Index to Legal Periodicals
Main Per Index 1926-
Print citation index to U.S. law journals.

CIAO
Online 1990?-
CIAO is a full text database of working papers, conference proceedings, policy briefs and some articles for the study of international relations, published from 1991 forward, and produced collaboratively by the Columbia University Libraries and Columbia University Press.

Web Sites

Comparative Constitutional Law Research Guide
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/compcon/

European Court of Human Rights
http://www.echr.coe.int/

Constitutions of Nations Throughout The World
http://www.concourt.am/wwconst/index.html

World Wide Constitutional Courts
Links to constitutional courts and equivalent bodies
http://www.concourt.am/catalog/ccourt.htm

Bills of Rights Comparative Law Materials
http://www.hrcr.org/safrica/

Researching Constitutional Law on the Internet
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/conlaw.html

See section called Case Reports, Books, Journals, Articles, and Current Commentary

World Legal Information Institute
http://www.worldlii.org/
http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/270.html

Case Law

Please see the Library Course Guide for Constitutional Law for an overview of case citation and basic structure of U.S. case law reporters.

Information to help you locate international cases:

  • Name of case.
  • Date.
  • Country or jurisdiction of court.
  • Legal terminology and/or keywords for subject.

International Legal Materials
American Society of International Law
Main Periodical; also a section of LexisNexis

Websites and Databases:

LexisNexis Academic

European Court of Human Rights
http://www.echr.coe.int/

Researching Constitutional Law on the Internet
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/conlaw.html

World Legal Information Institute
http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/270.html

European Law: portal European Caselaw through EUR-LEX and CELEX
http://europa.eu.int/documents/index_en.htm