Legal Databases

This A - Z list of Research Databases includes domestic, foreign, and international resources.

For a more comprehensive guide to foreign, transnational, and international legal research, please visit our Foreign, Transnational, and International databases page.

For non-legal resources, see Yale University Library's list of databases and list of ejournal titles.

Occasionally we have trials of new databases. Please use these databases and let us know how you like them!

A

AccessUN

Index to United Nations Documents, including Official Records, draft resolutions, and the UN Treaty Series. Some full-text.

Access: Yale network

Africa Yearbook

Information on the legal, social, political and economic state of African nations.

Access: Yale network

AllAfrica.com

Collects news from a variety of African countries and sources.

Access: Yale network

American Foreign Relations since 1600

32 chronologically organized chapters that combine bibliographies, biographies, and analysis written by scholars in the field, and conclude with examinations of every part of the world or nation addressed by the United States during that period; includes 18,000+ primary and secondary sources that cover the breadth of American history from the 17th century to the present.

Access: Yale network

Audio Case Files

AudioCaseFiles offers audio opinions of more than 1,000 cases and 4,000 hours of trial video to the legal community. Download MP3s and listen on the go. Watch the best practitioners in the world argue cases on product liability, antitrust, mergers & acquisitions, and more.

Access:Yale network

Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII)

Australian and New Zealand legal database.

Access: no restrictions

Avalon Project

A Yale-based project to provide documents in law, history and diplomacy back to the 18th century and earlier.

Access: no restrictions

B

Berkeley Electronic Press

Electronic scholarly journals

Access: Yale network

Bloomberg Anywhere

Business and financial information, including international and domestic market updates, company profiles and financial statements, court dockets and cases, and news. Also available via the Bloomberg Terminal in the Reading Room on L3.

Access: YLS Faculty & Students only (individually assigned passwords)

Britannica Online

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Access: Yale network

C

CALI

Computer-Assisted Legal Research Exercises

Access: [YLS: Inside] [individual passwords]

CCH Online Networks

Primary law and CCH analysis on Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Banking, Corporate Governance, Intellectual Property, Products Liability, Securities, Tax, and other law topics.

Access: YLS Access (Requires registration)

China Academic Journals

A database for Chinese scholarly journals. In Chinese.

Access: Yale network

China Business Review

The official magazine of the US-China Business Council offers news and commentaries on Chinese trade and business deveopment.

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

China Law & Practice

The online newsletter has new business law an regulations updates and law archive. In English.

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

China Law Info (Chinese)

Law Info China (English)

Click on <IP login>. Chinese primary and secondary legal sources in English and Chinese (cases, laws, regulations, articles); works best with Internet Explorer. Selective Chinese law journals are available in the Chinese site for full-text download.

Access: Yale network

China Lawyee Court Cases Database

The library has a subscription to the Court cases collection which includes cases from the Supreme People's Court and other lower level courts. In Chinese only.

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

Chronicle of Higher Education

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

CILP

Current Index to Legal Periodicals - tables of contents for new law journals

Access: YLS workstations

Colonial State Papers

Colonial State Papers provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Also included is a digitized version of The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739, which contains bibliographic records and extracts for thousands of additional documents.

Access: Yale network

Congressional Quarterly Library

Legislative news and analysis from Congressional Quarterly+

Access: Yale network

CQ Congress Collection

A research and reference tool for analyzing the history and development, legislation, powers, and members of the U.S. Congress.

Access: Yale network

Constitutions of the Countries of the World,

Constitutions of Dependencies and Territories,

Constitutions of the U.S.: National and State

Current and selected historical Constitutions via Oceana.

Click on "Connect via IP Access" and select the desired database.

Note: Safari browser for Macintosh will not work with Oceana databases

Access: Yale network

D

Digital Commons (Yale Law School Legal Scholarship Repository)

Open-access repository preserving and disseminating Yale Law School scholarship and publications, using the Digital Commons platform from Berkeley Electronic Press. The principal series included are the Faculty and Affilitates Series, the Student Series, and the Student Prize Paper Series.

Access: Free (no restrictions)

E

Early English Books Online

Contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English; based on the Bell & Howell microfilm collections Early English Books 1475-1640 and Early English Books 1641-1700. Searches can be restricted to legal materials.

Access: Yale network

East View Chinese Academic Journals (CAJ)

Subscription covers usage of the full text Chinese Academic Journals Database (1994- ), Century Journals Project (1955-1993), China Master/Doctoral full-text Database (2000- ) and the Chinese Core Newspapers full-text Database (2000-).

Access: Yale network

Eighteenth Century Collections Online

Fully searchable digital images of books published during the 18th Century, including history, literature, religion, law, fine arts, and science.

Access: Yale network

EBSCO Legal Collection

Electronic journals access through EBSCO's search interface. See also the University's list of ejournal titles.

Access: Yale network

Encyclopaedia of Islam

Includes several chapters on SHaria or religious law. Bibliography at the end of each entry.

Access: Yale network

Encyclopaedia of Judaism

Inlcudes many chapters on Jewish law, the Torah, Covenants, etc. Bibliography at the end of each entry.

Access: Yale network

Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an

Includes a chapter on Law and the Qur'an. Bibliography at the end of each entry.

Access: Yale network

Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures

Includes several chapters on women and the law. Bibliography at the end of each entry

Access: Yale network

Environmental Law Reporter

Online version of the print title. This online edition is the most current version.

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

EU Tracker

EU Tracker is a unique monitoring and analysis tool for lawyers, PSLs and information managers, it tracks the implementation of key EU Directives across 20 Member States.

Access: Yale network

F

Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER)

An online business news magazine covering economic development of South East Asia. Also available on ProQuest. Ceaseed publication, but archives can still be searched.

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

Federal Judiciary Library - See CCH Legal Professional Internet Research Network

The Almanac of the Federal Judiciary and the Directory of Federal Court Guidelines are now available on the CCH Internet Research Network as part of the Trial Attorneys’ Library.

Foreign Law Guide

Electronic version of Foreign Law: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World

Access: YLS workstations

Frontiers of Law in China (SpringerLink)

Includes English translation of noteworthy scholarly articles originally published in Chinese law journals

Access: Yale network

G

Global Arbitration Review

In addition to having access to the electronic version of the print GAR journal, the GAR website also provides news, surveys, and interviews targeted for the arbitration professional.

Access: Yale network

Government Information on the Internet

Directory of over 5000 federal, state and local government web sites

Access: Yale network

Guidestar

Information on non-profits, including financials and IRS Form 990. We do not have a paid subscription.

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

H

Hague Academy Collected Courses Online - See Recueil des Cours en ligne

Halsbury's Law of England Online

An authoritative encyclopaedia of law in England and Wales with 52 main volumes arranged by subject, several indexes, and updating services. It is particularly useful to find the most important cases, legislation, and commentary in a particular area of law.

Access: Yale network

Hein Online

Hein Online Searchable database of full-text legal journals. Treaties and Agreements Library (UST 1950 - 1984; ILM; Bevans; Malloy; Miller; Kappler; treaty texts; etc.). Federal Legislative History Library. U.S. Code. U.S. Statutes at Large. Federal Register Library. Code of Federal Regulations. Legal Classics. Phillip C. Jessup Library. U.S. Attorney General Opinions. U.S. Presidential Library. U.S. Supreme Court Library. Foreign Relations of the United States. European Center for Minority Issues. Israel Law Reports. United Nations Treaty Series.

Access: Yale network

Human Rights Documents Online

Human Rights Documents Online (HRDO) will ultimately contain all human rights documents collected by the Human Rights Internet (HRI) in Ottawa in Canada since 1980. These documents emanate from 483 non-governmental human rights organizations (NGOs) worldwide, some of which have a universal scope, whilst others focus on the attainment of human rights in a specific area of the world.

Access: Yale network

I

IndexMaster

Locates book titles that contain a keywords in either the title, index or table of contents of the individual treatises in its database

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP)

Index of foreign law review articles

Access: Yale network

Index to Legal Periodicals (ILP)

Index of law review articles, 1981-current (includes the Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective, 1918-1980)

Access: Yale network

Inside China Today

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

International Courts of General Jurisdiction: ORIL

Find decisions and commentary cases from the ICJ, ITLOS, PCA and PCIJ.

Access: Yale network

International Criminal Law: ORIL

Focuses on decisions from the four main international criminal tribunals: International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL); ICL also includes decisions from post-WWII military tribunals such as the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and the follow-up trials held under Control Council Law No 10.

Access: Yale network

International Human Rights Law: ORIL

Search for decisions on human rights from a variety of global and regional courts including: the European Commission of Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) from 1961; decisions from the four UN Committees (Committee Against Torture, Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and Human Rights Committee, which monitors the Convention for Civil and Political Rights) which are able to deliver views in individual cases; comprehensive decisions from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I/A Court H.R.) and selected decisions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR); cases decided under the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, in both the Court and the Commission.

Access: Yale network

International Investment Claims: ORIL

With over 300 awards at launch and more being added regularly, the International Investment Claims module makes it possible for the first time to search this growing and influential body of jurisprudence alongside other areas of international law.

Access: Yale network

International Law in Domestic Courts: ORIL

An online case reporting service that brings you the most important public international law issues being decided in domestic courts around the world. The most significant cases are identified and thoroughly analyzed. Full text judgments are included, as are authoritative English translations of key passages. Fully searchable database; browse by country, key word, or topic.

Access: Yale network

Investment Arbitration Reporter

IAR focuses on cross-border lawsuits between foreign investors and their host governments. It specializes in tracking and chronicling so-called investor-state arbitrations.

Access: Yale network

Investment Claims: OUP

Investment Claims is published by Oxford University Press and brings you materials and analysis in the field of international investment law and arbitration. Find awards and decisions, treaties, commentaries, institutional rules, national arbitration laws, and arbitrators and counsel.

Access: Yale network

Isinolaw

Primary resources on Chinese law (in English and Chinese)

Access: Yale network

Integrated Database of Trade Disputes for Latin America and the Caribbean (IDATD)

Integrated Database of Trade Disputes for Latin America and the Caribbean - a single database with documents from the official websites of the dispute resolution systems of the WTO, MERCOSUR, CARICOM, the Andean Community, NAFTA, and SIECA

Access: Free (no restrictions)

J

JSTOR

Searchable database of journal articles in areas including economics, finance, history, philosophy, political science, and sociology

Access: Yale network

Judicial Nominations Database

The Yale Law School Judicial Nominations database tracks judicial nominations from the 103rd congress to the present. Every nominee, and their entire nomination history can be tracked throughout the years. Users can also use RSS feeds to track current nominees and find out when they are moved through the process.

Juris

German-language site providing text of EU-State laws

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

JurisClasseur

This database contains French-language legal information: legislation, regulations and case law. It also gives access to a great volume of secondary legal sources and expert analysis.

Access: Yale network

Justis

English Reports (1220-1873)

International Law Reports (1919-present)

State Trials (1163-1858)

UK Statutes (1235-present)

UK Statutory Instruments (1671-present)

Access: Yale network

JustCite

A product of Justis, JustCite is a neutral multi-source electronic citator for UK and EU (and ECHR) material, including cases, statutes, legislation, treaties, scholarly articles, and more. It links your search to case law, legislation and articles from numerous third-party publishers, and shows how they relate to each other.

Access: Yale network

K

Kluwer Law International Journals

A variety of business, arbitration, environmental, tax, and trade law titles.

Access: Yale network

L

Lawtel

Database of British law plus EU and human rights material

Access: Yale network

LawTrio

Legal Looseleafs, Newsletters, and CD-ROMs

Access: Yale network

Lawyee Court Cases Database - See China Lawyee Court Cases Database

Leadership Directories - See Yellow Books

LegalTrac

Index of law review articles

Access: YLS workstations

Lexis-Nexis

Online legal database

Access: YLS faculty and students only [individually-assigned passwords]

LexisNexis China Law Database

The LexisNexis China Law Database (LNCHNL) is an authoritative collection of Chinese laws, regulations, tax information, judicial decisions, and other legal documents, collected from government sources, and translated by LexisNexis China Online (COL) in Beijing.

Access: Yale network

LexisNexis Congressional

Legislative history, indexes, and abstracts 1789-present (full-text for more recent materials)

Access: Yale network

LexisNexis State Capital

State government information including bills, laws, constitutions, proposed and enacted regulations, etc.

Access: Yale network

LexisNexis Statistical

United States statistical information

Access: Yale network

LLMC Digital

A Digitial collection of the microfiche from the Law Library Microfilm Consortium. (in progress - view contents and progress here)

Access: Yale network

M

The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926

Online versions of legal treatises published from 1800-1926

Access: Yale network

The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources, 1620-1926

Based primarily on holdings of the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale University, this product offers online access to early state codes, city charters, constitutional conventions, law dictionaries, and colonial records.

Access: Yale network

The Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978

Selective Coverage of records and briefs for argued and cert denied cases

Access: Yale network

Making of Modern Law: Trials, c. 1600 - 1926

Online versions of accounts of trials, principally U.S. and British.

Access: Yale network

Manupatra

Comprehensive database of primary and secondary Indian law, including federal and sub-federal cases and laws, cases arranged by topic, practice forms, and more.

(We have single-user access only; if you are not able to sign on, please try again later)

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law

The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL) online edition, edited by Rüdiger Wolfrum, is a fully updated online edition of the Encyclopedia of Public International Law published in print between 1991 and 2001 under the general editorship of Rudolf Bernhardt.

Access: Yale Network

N

The New Republic

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade

InterAm database - a collection of laws, regulations, case law, and secondary source materials for countries in the Americas; materials in the vernacular (Spanish and Portugese, with some English translations)

Access: Yale network

Newspaperarchive

A database of over 50 million pages of newspaper articles mostly from small-town newspapers throughout the United States in the 1800s and 1900s.

Access: Yale network

Nineteenth Century Masterfile

A vast "Index of Indexes" and the largest resource for historical research prior to 1925, it brings together over 60 subject indexes to periodicals, newspapers, books, US Congressional Record, US and UK Government Documents, US Patents.

Access: Yale network

O

Oceana Online - U.S. Treaties Researcher

Full text search of U.S. treaties and international agreements in force since 1783.

Click on "Connect via IP Access", and select the desired database.

Note: Safari browser for Macintosh will not work with Oceana databases.

Access: Yale network

Oceana Constitution databases:

Constitutions of the Countries of the World,

Constitutions of Dependencies and Territories,

Constitutions of the U.S.:: National and State

U.S. State, Federal, Dependency and Territorial Constitutions via Oceana .

Click on "Connect via IP Access", and select the desired database.

Note: Safari browser for Macintosh will not work with Oceana databases.

Access: Yale network

Outlines

Yale Law Women's Outline Bank

Access: Yale network

Oxford English Dictionary

Access: Yale network

Oxford Reports on International Law: ORIL

Oxford Reports on International Law is intended to be a single point of reference for all international law jurisprudence, providing serious researchers access to the widest possible range of international law jurisprudence. All reported decisions have a headnote, the full text of the decision, and are linked to the Oxford Law Citator. We subscribe to all five modules: International Courts of General Jurisdiction, International Criminal Law, International Human Rights Law, International Investment Claims, and International Law in Domestic Courts.

Access: Yale network

P

PACER

Public Access to Court Electronic Records

Access: [YLS: Inside] [limited access]

Parliament Rolls of Medieval England

Access: Yale network

Periodicals Contents Index

Index of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences (including law) from their first issues to 1990/1991+

Access: Yale network

The Polling Report

Access: [YLS: Inside] [limited access]

Poole's Plus

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1906)+

Access: Yale network

ProQuest Newspapers

Coverage of national, international, and local news.

Access: Yale network

Q

Quicklaw

Quicklaw is a Canadian electronic legal research database that provides court decisions from all levels, news reports, provincial and federal statutes, journals, and other legal commentary. It also offers a case citator and case digests.

Access: Yale network

R

Recueil des Cours en ligne - Hague Academy Collected Courses Online

Since 1923 The Hague Academy of International Law organizes Collected Courses Online prestigious post-university summer courses in private international law and public international law. The courses are published in the book series "The Hague Academy Collected Courses", now comprising over 320 volumes.

Access: Yale network

Regulations.gov

View and comment on proposed federal regulations, browse CFR by subject.

Access: free (no restriction)

S

Serial Set

U.S. Congressional Serial Set (in progress). Contains the reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Currently Available: 1817-1896 (15th-54th Congress, 1st Session), volumes 1-3456.

Access: Yale network

SmartCILP

Current Index to Legal Periodicals email notification service

Access: [YLS: Inside]

South China Morning Post

The Hong Kong newspaper covers current news about China and other Asian countries. In English.

Access: [YLS: Inside]

SSRN

Social Science Research Network contains pre-publication papers in various social sciences. Includes Legal Scholarship Network.

Access: Yale network

STAT-USA

Current Economic and Historical Statistics and the National Trade Data Bank

Access: Yale network

State Capitals Universe - See LexisNexis State Capital

Statistical Universe - See LexisNexis Statistical

Statutes at Large - See LexisNexis Congressional

Supreme Court Justices Database

Public database of information on individuals nominated (whether confirmed or not) to the U.S. Supreme Court; the database houses 263 variables in five categories: identifiers, background characteristics and personal attributes, nomination and confirmation, service on the Court, and departures from the bench

Access: free (no restriction)

Supreme Court Records and Briefs

An incomplete collection of records and briefs filed in the Supreme Court of the United States. See also: Landmark series (leading cases), Curiae Project (leading cases), microfiche set (1895- ), microfilm set (1832-1896), historic print holdings (c. 1920 - 1970) and current print holdings [1] and [2] (2001- ).

Access: Yale network

Supreme Court Today

BNA U.S. Supreme Court update

Access: YLS workstations

T

Takdinet

Israeli High Court cases to update the Takdin CD-ROM

Access: Yale network

Tax Analysts

Includes Tax Notes Today, State Tax Notes and Worldwide Tax Daily (with tax treaties). Set up daily email news, search archives, documents and treaties.

Access: Yale network

Thomas

Online access to the Congressional Record and other legislative materials.

Access: free (no restriction)

Transnational Dispute Management

International commercial arbitration journal and legal and regulatory database (Knowledgebank).

Access: Yale network

TIARA - See Oceana Online - U.S. Treaties Researcher

U

UNBISnet

Index to United Nations documents since 1979 and catalog of Dag Hammarskjöld Library

Access: Yale network

United Nations Official Documents System

Current United Nations documents (via Social Science Library)

Access: Yale network

United Nations Treaty Collection

United Nations Treaty Series, Recently Deposited Multilateral Treaties

Access: Yale network

United States Law Week

Access: Yale network

University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy

Online version of the print title.

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

V

The Vault Guides (Career Insider)

Online access to selected Vault guides (YLS Community only).

Access: [YLS: Inside]

vLex Global

World-wide legal database containing legislation, jurisprudence, commentary, forms, legal news, and more from many countries (extensiveness of each collection varies) including Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, U.S., International Law (Search in English or the vernacular; materials in the vernacular with some translation capabilities).

Access: Yale network

The Vote

Electronic edition of the Cass Sunstein book

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference password]

W

Wan Fang Data (Policies and Laws of China)

Primarily Chinese online database covering state and regional laws and regulations of China, selected collection of court cases, administrative documents and texts of treaties.

Access: Yale network

WashingtonPost.com

Access: [YLS: Inside] [reference passwords]

Westlaw

Online legal database

Access: YLS faculty and students only [individually-assigned passwords]

World News Connection

Monitor non-U.S. media sources. The material in WNC is provided to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) by the Open Source Center (OSC).

Access: Yale network

Worldtradelaw.net

Comprehensive source of WTO dispute settlements including index, database of dispute settlement tables and statistics, and summary and analysis of all reports and arbitrations

Access: Yale network

Y

Yale Law School Legal Scholarship Repository

Open-access repository preserving and disseminating Yale Law School scholarship and publications, using the Digital Commons platform from Berkeley Electronic Press. The principal series included are the Faculty and Affilitates Series, the Student Series, and the Student Prize Paper Series.

Access: Free (no restrictions)

Yellow Books

Leadership Directories, including Congressional, Judicial, Federal, Municipal, Foreign Representatives, etc.

Access: Yale network

Currently Running Trials: none

Access Information

We regret that a limited number of our databases must be restricted to a small number of users. Below is a list of definitions of the restriction levels noted in the description of each database.

[YLS: Inside]

Indicates that the database requires a password for access. Where license restrictions permit, we will issue authorized Yale community members passwords for the resource. Email the reference staff (mailto:lawref @ pantheon.yale.edu) from a valid yale.edu email address, or login to YLS: Inside (the law school intranet) and go to the Library Database Passwords page.

Yale network

Indicates that the database is licensed for use from any Yale-networked computer. This generally includes Yale dialup (PPP), all Yale dormitories and buildings, and VPN/Proxy access. For more information about remote access to Yale resources, please see our research tip.

YLS workstations

Indicates that the datbase is licensed for use from Yale Law School computers only. This generally means that you can ONLY access the resource from within the Law School building (NOT via VPN/Proxy). For more information, please speak with a reference librarian.

Please send comments regarding this page to the Reference Department.