Law: International Cases

Legal databases containing international cases:

Useful Library Guides:

• International Court of Justice (ICJ)
  The principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN), established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
• International Criminal Court (ICC)

  Investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

  Independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention.

• Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)

  Intergovernmental organisation with 115 member states, established in 1899 to facilitate arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution between states.

• United Nations (UN) Documentation: International Courts and Tribunals

  There are a wide variety of international courts and tribunals that have varying degrees of relation to the UN. These range from the ICJ to the ad hoc criminal tribunals established by the Security Council; to the ICC and ITLOS, and other international courts that may be completely independent of the UN.

• CURIA
  Official website of the Court of Justice and Court of First Instance of the European Communities. The site provides access to information about the Court of Justice, Court of First Instance, and the Civil Service Tribunal. It includes the full text of judgments, orders, opinions and notices, and allows searching of cases from the Courts and Tribunal.
  • See also: Citing the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Understanding UK Case Law - a useful guide by SOAS Library (University of London)

Courts

• UK Supreme Court - official website
  Highest court in the UK. Transcripts of decisions from 31 July 2009 onwards. Library of live recordings of sessions of the court. Free access to earlier decisions available via BAILII.
• Courts and Tribunals Judiciary - Judgments
• House of Lords (Court of Appeal 1621-July 2009) - All judgments of the Law Lords from 14 November 1996 to 30 July 2009 are available on the Parliament website. Access to judgments prior to 1996 can be arranged through the Parliamentary Archives.
• The Old Bailey - Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 - 1913 (London's central criminal court)

Reported Cases

• Find Case Law - National Archives (UK) government database of UK judgments, established 2022. Includes court and tribunal decisions from the superior courts of record – The Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, and Upper Tribunals. Over time, judgments from more courts and tribunals and historical judgments will be added to the service.
   
•  CommonLII - includes English Reports (1220-1873)
   
• CaseMine - legal research platform using AI to locate UK case law

Unreported Judgments

•    BAILII - British and Irish Legal Information Institute (open access law)
  OA source of transcripts (not reports) of UK and Irish court judgments. General coverage starts mid-1990s, though earlier key judgments are also included. BAILII also includes a subject arrangement of judgments.
  • See also: IRLII - Irish primary and secondary materials
     
•    Jersey Legal Information Board 
   
• Access to Law - Legal resources selected & annotated by Inner Temple Library

Reported Cases

• The New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR)  (1880- )
  Official report series of New Zealand - includes decisions of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, Court of Appeal and High Court.
  Print: Law Library, Lvl 4, Bldg 31 Joondalup Campus
  Online: Lexis Advance  (COVERAGE: 1958 to present)

Unreported Judgments

•   NZLII - New Zealand Legal Information Institute - includes over 50,000 High Court decisions

• Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide  (on CanLII)

Reported Cases

Unreported Judgments

•   CANLII - Canadian Legal Information Institute

For more information on the US Court System see National Center for State Courts

• Law Reviews Project - search Law Journals on the internet