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Applied Comparative Law: Researching Foreign Law in an Imperfect World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

David S. Clark
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Extract

I admit that I am an addict, a compulsive user of libraries and especially law libraries. As a comparative lawyer I need to investigate foreign law, which for me is the law of jurisdictions outside the United States. Since I believe the social and cultural context in which law operates is important to its understanding, I must leave the relative comfort of United States libraries and venture abroad to learn about the features of legal systems not adequately described in books. Beyond common law countries, as the IALL 20th Annual Course illustrates, the language of law is something other than English: yet another hill to climb to understand foreign law. For most of you, United States law is foreign law, which is the other side of the same issue. In addition, public international law lawyers could benefit from the comparative approach. This is particularly true for those from the Anglo-American world who rely almost exclusively on English language materials in their research. This narrow perspective undercuts the fundamental premise of universality behind a truly international legal system.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , Summer 2002 , pp. 232 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 by the International Association of Law Libraries 

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References

1 Some comparatists prepare books introducing their own law to foreigners. E.g., Clark, David S. & Ansay, Tuğrul, Introduction to the Law of the United States (The Hague, 2d ed. 2001). Kluwer has published eight books in this “Introduction” series.Google Scholar

2 See, e.g., Bynum, Charlotte, “Foreign & International Law Sources on the Net” (12 Nov. 2001) at <http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/guides/foreign> (visited 20 Nov. 2001); Grossman, Andrew, “Towards Cooperation in Access to Foreign Primary Law” (1 Feb. 2001) at <http://www.llrx.com/features/***cooperation.htm> (visited 29 Aug. 2001).+(visited+20+Nov.+2001);+Grossman,+Andrew,+“Towards+Cooperation+in+Access+to+Foreign+Primary+Law”+(1+Feb.+2001)+at++(visited+29+Aug.+2001).>Google Scholar

3 A modest attempt to organize the major research links for foreign and comparative law is maintained by the American Society of Comparative Law at <http://www.comparativelaw.org/links.html> (visited 20 Nov. 2001).+(visited+20+Nov.+2001).>Google Scholar

4 See, e.g., Greenleaf, Graham, “Solving the Problems of Finding Law on the Web: World Law and DIAL,” International Journal of Legal Information 29 (2001): 383.Google Scholar

5 See, e.g., Germain, Claire M., “Content and Quality of Legal Information and Data on the Internet with a Special Focus on the United States,” International Journal of Legal Information 27 (1999): 289; Liu, Joan, “Beyond the Border: Chinese Legal Information in Cyberspace,” International Journal of Legal Information 29 (2001): 120; Mee, John, “Electronic Access to Legal Information in Ireland,” International Journal of Legal Information 29 (2001): 451; Thorpe, Suzanne, “Online Legal Information in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden,” International Journal of Legal Information 29 (2001): 25.Google Scholar

6 Bravy, Gary J. & Feather, K. Celeste, “The Impact of Electronic Access on Basic Library Services: One Academic Law Library's Experience,” Law Library Journal 93 (2001): 261, 262–64, 266–68.Google Scholar

7 See van Laer, Conrad J.P., “A Comparative Lawyer's Review of the LC Classification System,” Law Library Journal 91 (1999): 305; Nijsten, Machteld, “The European University Institute Library: Building an International and Comparative Law Collection for a Multinational Clientele,” International Journal of Legal Information 27 (1999): 213, 223.Google Scholar

8 For a useful summary of foreign law collections in Europe and the United States, see Gödan, Jürgen Christoph, “Fent camí per un Institut Català de Dret nacional i estranger,” Revista Jurídica de Catalunya 1 (1990): 263.Google Scholar

9 In 2000, 910 short term guests registered with the Institute, of whom 111 were foreigners.Google Scholar

10 In 1971 the Institute subscribed to 1,500 journals (241 German) and added 7,600 volumes to the collection.Google Scholar

11 Pressure from the sponsoring Max Planck Society to reduce expenses has led to an interesting proposal to consolidate the six law Max Planck institutes into a single one for foreign and international law, which would have a staff of 250 and a library of 1.6 million volumes. See Gödan, Jürgen Christoph, “Überlegungen zur Schaffung eines einheitlichen ‘Max-Planck-Instituts für ausländisches und internationales Recht',” in Corporations, Capital Markets and Business in the Law: Liber amicorum Richard M. Buxbaum 177, 200–202 (The Hague, Theodor Baums, Hopt, Klaus J. & Horn, Norbert eds., 2000).Google Scholar

12 See generally Winterton, Jules, “The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library,” Law Librarian 31 (1999): 128.Google Scholar

13 See Gee, David, “Charging for Information Services at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library,” Law Librarian 30 (1999): 169.Google Scholar

14 See Whittle, Steven, “Finding Law in the 21st Century: An Introduction to the SOSIG Law Gateway,” 29 International Journal of Legal Information 29 (2001): 360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar