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Legal Research Manual

This edition of Legal Research Manual builds on many previous editions. While the manual is designed principally for use with the first year legal research classes, upper year law students will also find it a useful reference.

Foreign Law

Foreign law refers to the national law (also known as internal or domestic law) of another country. From the viewpoint of Canada, the laws of Japan, the United Kingdom, and Brazil are all "foreign law". A related concept is comparative law, which refers to the academic study of different jurisdictions' legal systems. 

The law library at Queen's provides access to certain subscription databases that contain legal materials from foreign jurisdictions. However, much of our access to foreign legal materials comes from free Government and non-government websites.

This section of the guide will help you start your research ino the laws of other countries.

Note: For in-depth guidance on researching law from the UK or the United States, see the chapters on Researching UK Law and Researching American Law within the law library's Legal Research Manual.

Foreign & Comparative Law Research Guides