This guide identifies sources useful for in-depth
research in international economic law.
"International economic law comprises a broad
collection of laws and customary practices that
govern economic relations between actors in different
nations. It includes the examination of
both law and policy issues on multiple levels,
including private law, local law, national law,
and international law." Stephen Zamora,
International Economic Law, 17 U. Pa.
J. Int'l Econ. L. 63, 63-64 (1996)(footnotes
omitted).
Given the broad scope of international economic
law, this guide emphasizes sources allowing the
researcher to delve more deeply into its respective
facets. These sources include research guides
(both print and electronic) and Web gateways.
"Gateways" are Web sites that serve primarily
to give researchers access to many other Web sites
on one or more subjects. Web-based research
guides that offer multiple Web links can also
serve as gateways.
International
economic law sources
Some of these sources pertain specifically to
international economic law. Others do not,
but offer sufficient general applicability or
overlap to warrant attention.
Research
guides
ASIL
Guide to Electronic Resources for International
Law: International Economic Law. One
of a series
of guides to commercial online and Internet
sources in international law, this is a fine effort
whose organization recognizes and distinguishes
aspects of international economic law such as
international trade law, international financial
law, and regional economic integration.
It also supplies helpful guidance on locating
relevant print
literature.
Researching
International Economic Law on the Internet.
The Institute of International Economic Law at
Georgetown University Law Center produces this
expert and well-designed site.
Claire M. Germain, Germain's transnational
research: A guide for attorneys (1991 -
) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL REF K85.G47 1991].
This loose-leaf service is the premier, all-purpose
print guide to foreign and international law research.
It includes a subject section (Chapter IV), which
favors topics falling within international economic
law, such as banking, business organizations,
commercial law, financial law, and investments.
Its foreign law coverage (Chapter V) is limited
to Western European countries.
Accidental tourist on the new frontier: An
introductory guide to global legal research
(Jeanne Rehberg & Radu D. Popa, eds., 1998)
[LAW/RESERVES K85.A27 1998]. Every
chapter in this much needed addition to the research
literature, with the possible exception of one
or two, supplies essential background reading
for research in international economic law.
Specific chapters are recommended below.
Gateways
Lex
Mercatoria. Describes itself as "an
(international | transnational) commercial law
& e-commerce infrastructure monitor."
It is the major gateway in this area, classifying
its links as follows: subject
areas, instruments,
e-commerce,
and organizations.
Three universities -- the University of Tromsø
and the University of Oslo in Norway, and the
Institute of International Commercial Law at
Pace University School of Law -- along with the
Australasian Legal Information Institute, cooperate
on this project.
International
Economic Law Web Resources. A "no-frills"
list of links, using substantially the same subject
division as the ASIL
guide, and maintained by the ASIL
International Economic Law Group.
Eye
on International Business Law. Focuses
on international
trade and commercial law, international
commercial arbitration, and private
international law. Based at the University
of Muenster, this site, "[a]iming at navigability
. . . endeavours to focus on the most instructive,
reliable, and current sources available on the
Internet."
Institute
of European and International Economic Law.
A few useful links
and a European perspective from the University
of Berne, Switzerland. Except for a welcome
page in English, this site is in German.
Document
collections
Basic documents of international economic
law (Stephen Zamora & Ronald A. Brand,
eds.,1990) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL REF JX1252.B37
1990]. A two-volume collection of treaties
and other instruments relating to private trade
transactions and international intergovernmental
regulation. Each document is prefaced by
an introduction and a bibliography. Like
other "basic documents" collections, this set
offers a convenient "one-stop" source of primary
materials, enhanced by the expertise of the contributors
in both their selection of, and commentary on,
the documents. It may also be used to identify
the official source of a document, which is given
at the beginning of each document. An electronic
version is available on LEXIS: INTLAW; BDIEL,
which is especially useful for keyword searching
in lieu of an index.
WESTLAW: IEL (International Economic Law Documents).
The database scope note states that "[t]he IEL
database is a project of the American Society
of International Law (ASIL) Interest Group on
International Economic Law and contains documents
selected for the database by the editors," who
are the editors, and some of the contributors,
associated with Basic documents of international
law. Since the IEL editors select
new documents for the database on an ongoing basis,
use IEL, or LEXIS: INTLAW; BDIEL, to update the
print source.
International economic law: Basic documents
(Philip Kunig, Niels Lau & Werner Meng, eds.,
1989) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL REF K3820.A35I58
1989]. According to the editors, this
one-volume collection "is oriented towards relevance
to decision-makers on the international and national
levels . . . The selection took a universal, not
a national or regional perspective. Therefore
the volume includes mainly multilateral international
treaties, but also some decisions of international
organizations." This source lacks the editorial
enhancements of Basic documents of international
economic law.
Transnational economic and monetary law:
International regulation of finance and investment
(Kenneth R. Simmonds & Brian H. W. Hill, eds.,
1992 - ) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL K3823.L372].
A multi-volume loose-leaf set.
Victor Essein, Research in Transnational Business
Law, in Accidental tourist on the new frontier:
An introductory guide to global legal research
207-221 (Jeanne Rehberg & Radu D. Popa, eds.,
1998) [LAW/RESERVES K85.A27 1998].
Contains citations to international business
law instruments. It is not, strictly speaking,
a research guide.
International Legal Materials [K9.N87
LAW/FOREIGN-INTL]. A vital source of primary
materials, published as a bi-monthly periodical
by the American Society of International Law.
It supplies a wide variety of international agreements,
foreign laws, and other documents of likely interest
to international law scholars and practitioners,
and it does this with relative currency.
Researchers will often find in ILM what they cannot
find elsewhere. It is available in full-text
on WESTLAW: ILM; treaties published in ILM are
available on LEXIS: INTLAW; ILMTY.
Experts
ASIL
International Economic Law Group. This
site, which is not very active, may feature important
announcements in the area of international economic
law.
ASILIELG@listproc.kentlaw.edu (American Society
of International Law, International Economic Law
Interest Group). A mailing
list for those interested in international
economic law. To subscribe, send e-mail
to listproc@listproc.kentlaw.edu
with only the following text in the body of the
message: subscribe asilielg Your Name.
International
law sources
Research
guides
Guide
to International Trade Law Sources on the Internet.
A helpful overall guide to international
agreements, international
organizations, United
States government sources, country
and regional business guides, and statistics.
The site is archived on LLRX.com.
WTO/GATT
Research. An excellent annotated
list of print and electronic sources for WTO/GATT
research. "These sources are listed according
to the major activities of the WTO, along with
a few related topics." It includes guidance
on finding further print
materials.
How to Research NAFTA Issues.
"[A] guide for researching NAFTA issues at the
University of Houston. It is a selective
bibliography organized loosely around suggested
research steps." Many of the sources and
suggestions apply to international economic
law research. It offers a concise list
of important Mexican
and Canadian
law sources.
Gateways
LEXIS: ITRADE
(International Trade Library). An important
library of LEXIS files relating to international
trade. While it is a convenient collection,
not every LEXIS file potentially helpful to international
economic law researchers (e.g., ABI) can
be found in this library.
Gateways
to International Law Research. Sometimes
"less is more." This is a gateway to gateways.
The sites were chosen to cover the entire range
of public international law.
Legal
Research on International Law Issues Using the
Internet. This site, taking a "kitchen
sink" approach, often rewards the effort it takes
to scroll through the long list of links.
Offers categories of links (such as directories
and publishers)
not commonly found through other international
law gateways. Most of the links are annotated.
International
Trade Administration. A government site with
useful links in areas including countries and
regions andindustries and sectors.
Treaties
Locating Key Foreign
& International Law Sources: Treaties.
A guide for researching treaties to which the
United States is a party, multilateral treaties
in general, and foreign bilateral treaties.
Presents all of the essential print and electronic
treaty research sources.
Investment treaties [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K 1112.A35I58].
International tax treaties of all nations
[LAW/FOREIGN-INTL K4473.A1I57].
A collection of foreign bilateral treaties.
Tax Treaties [LAW/STACKS
KF6306.C65]. Excellent four-volume source
of bilateral tax treaties to which the United
States is a party. Published by CCH, this
loose-leaf service offers good indexing and other
common CCH features.
OAS
- Foreign Trade Information System.
Texts of trade agreements between countries of
the Americas, including hard-to-find foreign bilateral
agreements.
Secondary
sources
International trade reporter [LAW/STACKS
KF1975 .A8I572]. Actually, a small library
of sources. Includes weekly current developments
in international trade law, court decisions, an
indexed Reference File on all aspects of international
trade law, plus an Export Reference Manual and
an Export Shipping Manual. It is also available
on LEXIS: ITRADE; INTRAD.
Harvey Kaye & Christopher A. Dunn, International
trade practice (2d ed., 1997 -) [LAW/STACKS
KF1976.K39]. Loose-leaf treatise.
Private investments abroad [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K3829.6 .S96]. A yearbook on foreign investment
issues. A cumulative loose-leaf index [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K3829.6 .S95] is updated regularly.
WESTLAW
Database Directory: Law Reviews, Bar Journals
and Legal Periodicals. Use this directory
to find relevant law journals.
LEXIS
Directory of Online Services: Law Reviews
Library.
Foreign
law sources
Research
guides
Thomas H. Reynolds &
Arturo A. Flores, Foreign law: Current
sources of codes and legislation in jurisdictions
of the world (1989 - ) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
REF K38.R49 1989]. This is the
Bible of foreign law research. Identifies
the major primary sources of law (codes, court
reports, etc.) for each country, as well as citations
to the country's important legislation by subject.
Also notes English translations or reprint sources,
if available.
Jeanne Rehberg & Mirela Roznovschi, Finding
Foreign Law, in Accidental tourist on the
new frontier: An introductory guide to global
legal research 87-110 (Jeanne Rehberg &
Radu D. Popa, eds., 1998) [LAW/RESERVES K85.A27
1998]. Good background for those new
to foreign law research. Combines strategic
advice with descriptions of essential sources.
Provides examples of sources from important subject
areas, and from individual countries and regions.
Locating Key
Foreign & International Law Sources:
Foreign law sources. Gives the lay of the
land in foreign law research, emphasizing the
kinds of sources researchers should expect to
encounter. Contains cites and links to major
foreign law sources.
Gateways
Foreign Primary
Law on the Web: Foreign Law Gateways.
A list of gateways for foreign law research.
In addition to general gateways, there are gateways
devoted to particular regions and subjects.
Primary
sources
Commercial laws of the world [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K1004.C65]. Thirty-two volumes of selected
commercial legislation from many (not all) countries.
Stresses commercial codes, company laws, labor
laws, insurance, bankruptcy, and the like.
Major source of English translations of foreign
laws in these areas.
Investment laws of the world [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K1112.A48].
LEXIS: INTLAW.
Foreign legislation and case law from a number
of countries are included this LEXIS library.
Certain countries are assigned their own library
in LEXIS. And there is overlap between the
individual country files and the INTLAW library,
making for a confusing situation. Always
check the index to the current print version of
the LEXIS Directory.
InterAm
Database. A subscription Web site operated
by the National Law Center for Inter-American
Trade. It contains primary (and secondary)
materials from countries of the Americas on trade-related
subjects, but its offerings among the countries
are extremely uneven. Take advantage of the "Topical/Subject
Areas" menu to locate legislation on a specific
topic. If you are searching for the text
of legislation for which you have a complete citation,
search under "Primary Materials"; laws will be
listed there in reverse chronological order.
(University of Houston faculty and students:
for username and password, contact Timothy Mulligan,
Foreign & International Law Librarian, by
email,
or call (713) 743-2330).
Foreign Primary
Law on the Web. A virtual warehouse
of links to primary foreign law texts available
on the Web.
Secondary
sources
Index to foreign legal periodicals
[LAW/INDEX TABLE (F&I) K40 .I63].
A source for citations to articles in selected
foreign law journals and essay collections.
Indexed by subject, country and region, book reviews,
and author. When using the country and region
("Geographic") index, you will see a list of subjects
under each country; those are subjects under which,
in the volume you are using, articles pertaining
to that country appear. Use the list of
"Periodicals Indexed by Short Form" near the beginning
of a volume to decipher periodical abbreviations.
It is available as WESTLAW: IFLP, but not under
many law school WESTLAW subscription contracts.
Szladits' bibliography on foreign and comparative
law [LAW/INDEX TABLE (F&I) K520
.S95]. Less current than IFLP, but broader
in scope: it also references books and sources
of foreign primary law.
Doing business in [
]. Many books dealing with foreign business
law bear titles that begin with these words.
Many of these are loose-leaf treatises that, in
addition to analysis, contain reprints or translations
of the jurisdiction's laws relating to business;
these can sometimes be found in an appendix.
A list of "Doing Business in . . ." titles available
at the University of Houston Libraries is here.
Most of the titles are part of a Price, Waterhouse
series, but some, such as Doing business in
Europe, are not. Other titles in this
genre, like Business Transactions in Germany,
may be found by doing an appropriate subject
search, using subjects typically assigned
to "Doing Business in" books.
Digest of commercial laws of the world
[LAW/FOREIGN-INTL K1005.4.D54].
Private
international law sources
Research
guides
ASIL
Guide to Electronic Resources for International
Law: Private International Law. A guide
to Web sources mostly limited to multilateral
treaty regimes.
Jonathan Pratter
& Joseph R. Profaizer, A practitioner's
research guide and bibliography to international
civil litigation, 28 Tex. Int'l L. J.
633 (1993). A research guide to an important
aspect of private international law that, like
all good research guides, equips the researcher
to continue research independently.
Gateways
Private
International Law Database (U.S. State Department).
"The purpose of this web site is to provide a
convenient location to find treaties in force
for the United States, other international instruments,
and information on current negotiations and projects
covering the private international law of such
areas as trade and commerce, finance and banking,
trusts and estates, family and children matters,
and international judicial assistance . . . The
database is organized into four general areas:
Trade and Business Transactions Law; Family Law;
International Judicial Assistance; and the law
governing Wills, Trusts, and Estates."
Primary
sources
Hague
Conference on Private International Law.
A good source for the texts of private international
law conventions.
International Commercial Arbitration [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K2400.A48 1964]. Along with multilateral
arbitration treaties, it contains translations
of foreign arbitration rules.
Secondary
sources
Richard H. Kreindler, Transnational litigation:
A basic primer (1998) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K2205.4.K74 1998].
Bruno A. Ristau, International judicial assistance:
Civil and commercial (1984 -) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
REF K7624 .R57 1984]. Contains analysis,
useful summaries of practice in this area, and
selected primary texts.
Georges R. Delaume, Transnational contracts
-- applicable law and settlement of disputes:
a study in conflict avoidance (1975 - ) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K7265.D44].
World Litigation Law & Practice (Ronald
A. Myrick, ed., 1986 - ) [LAW/FOREIGN-INTL
K2205.4.W67 1986]. Foreign coverage
is limited to Canada, England and Wales, Italy,
Belgium, and "West Germany."
Business
sources
Research
guides
Kathy E. Shimpock, Business research handbook:
methods and sources for lawyers and business professionals
(1996) [ANDERSON/GENERAL COLL HF54.52.U5
S54 1996].
Michael R. Lavin, Business information: how
to find it, how to use it (2d ed. 1992) [LAW/REFERENCE
HF5356.L36 1991].
Lorna M. Daniells, Business information
sources (3d ed. 1993) [LAW/REFERENCE
HF5351.D3 1993].
Pervez N. Ghauri, Kjell Grønhaug &,
Ivar Kristianslund, Research methods in business
studies: a practical guide (1995) [ANDERSON/GENERAL
COLL HD30.4 .G49 1995].
Dan Remenyi, et al., Doing research in business
and management: an introduction to process and
method (1998) [ANDERSON/REFERENCE
HD30.4 .D65 1998].
Gateways
International
Business Resources on the WWW. Widely
considered the best gateway on this subject.
Secondary
sources
ABI/Inform.
Web access (via Ovid) to the foremost business
journals database. A portion of your search
results will be in full-text; the rest will be
limited to citations. Nice graphics and
search features might make this format preferable
to WESTLAW: ABI-INFORM or LEXIS: BUSFIN;
ABI. Available only by subscription.
(University of Houston users must access this
database through the UH network.)
Business
& Industry. Another subscription
database, focusing on industry and trade publications.
It is available at the M.D.
Anderson Library.
General
sources
Finding
books
University of
Houston Library Catalog. Covers all of the
University of Houston Libraries, including the
Law Library and the business collection at the
M.D. Anderson Library (the main campus library).
This is a database, and should be used as one.
Basic Boolean searches are permitted as part of
a "WORDS"
(keyword) search. Combine keyword searching
with subject
searching, using Library of Congress subject
headings derived from items that you know are
relevant, or from the research guides listed above
on international
economic law, WTO/GATT
and private international law.
Hone large
search results by using the "LIMIT"
feature.
Academic
Law Libraries. Comprehensive links to other
law libraries and their catalogs.
The Library
of Congress Online Catalog. The Library of
Congress does not have every book ever published,
but it certainly has more than the average library.
Boolean
searches are allowed.
Subject guide to books in print [LAW/REFERENCE
Z1215 .P973]. All books currently published
or distributed in the United States, organized
by subject. Since the subjects are not specific
enough for sophisticated research, it is better
to use WESTLAW: BIP or Books
in Print, the subscription Web site.
Finding Materials
Relevant to a Subject. Basic advice
on searching secondary literature by subject.
Finding
articles
Current law index [LAW/INDEX TABLE].
Also available as the Legal Resource Index on
WESTLAW: LRI and on LEXIS: LAWREV; LGLIND, and
as INFOTRAC at dedicated workstations on the main
level of the law library. By using an index
rather than a full-text database, researchers
usually obtain more relevant results, since the
search is limited to titles, subjects, and, sometimes,
abstracts. Uses Library of Congress subject
headings. More comprehensive than the Index
to Legal Periodicals.
Index to Legal Periodicals [LAW/INDEX
TABLE K1.A55].
WESTLAW: TP-ALL (Texts & Periodicals -- All
law reviews, texts and bar journals).
LEXIS: LAWREV; ALLREV (Law reviews combined).
Academic
Universe. Web access to journals and news.
Available by subscription from LEXIS.
UnCoverWeb.
Search UnCover to obtain citations to articles
from a large number of academic journals.
Readers' guide to periodical literature
[ANDERSON/INDEX TABLES AI3 .R4].
Just a reminder!
Finding
commercial online databases
LEXIS Directory of Online Services. A new
edition is published annually. It is also
available on the Web.
LEXIS: GUIDE; GUIDE. At the first menu,
choose "Product Guide Descriptions for Publications
or Files." At the next menu, choose "Free-text
searching." Then enter your query.
(These instructions apply to the dial-up version
of LEXIS, not the Web version.)
WESTLAW Database Directory. Obtain the
most recent print edition from your WESTLAW representative,
or access the Web
version.
WESTLAW: IDEN (WESTLAW Database List).
An alternative method of finding databases available
on WESTLAW. It is a database about WESTLAW
databases. Uses natural language searching,
so researchers should simply enter relevant terms
without formulating a query. The results
are ranked in descending order of relevance.
Gale directory of databases [ANDERSON/REFERENCE
Z699.22 .G34]. Keeps track of thousands
of commercial online and CD-ROM databases, updated
semi-annually.
Finding
Web sites
Google.com
MetaCrawler.
Searches a number of good Web search engines simultaneously
and combines the results.
Northern
Light. Employs a relatively precise,
proprietary search program. Highly recommended.
Choose "Search the World Wide Web only" under
"Select a source" to exclude from the search result
articles offered for sale by Northern Light.
AltaVista.
Choose "Advanced
Search" to perform Boolean searches.
Foreign
Languages Search Engines Galore. Since
search engine companies rely on Webmasters to
take the trouble to submit information about their
sites, researchers looking for foreign Web sites
should consider choosing a search engine popular
in the country under examination. This site
is a gateway to foreign search engines.
Search
Engine Watch. Monitors and evaluates Web search
engines. Offers instructions on formulating
optimal searches using "search
engine math" and other searching
tips.
