: 
Researching the Law of Latin America
By Teresa Miguel
Teresa Miguel holds an M.A. from the
University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science, a
J.D. from the University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law, a B.A. from
the University of Wisconsin, and a DELE (Diploma Extranjera de Lengua Española)
from the Instituto Cervantes. Publications include Comparative Law: Academic Perspectives in the forthcoming
International Handbook of Legal Information Management (IALL publication); A Closer Look: Uncovering the Spanish Roots
of Louisiana Civil Law, forthcoming in the International Journal of Legal
Information; Exchanging Books in Western
Europe: A Brief History of International Interlibrary Loan, 35 IJLI 499
(2007); Title IX and Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics: Case
Analyses, Legal Implications, and the Movement towards Compliance. 1 Sports Law. J. 279 (1994). She was a public defender from 1994-2002.
Published October 2010
Table of
Contents
Finding the law of Latin
American countries
Finding international law of Latin America
Treaties, Conventions,
Agreements
International Courts and
Tribunals
International Environmental
Law
International Business,
Investment, Trade
When beginning research in a foreign country, it is imperative to know
and understand the type of legal system or systems that operate in the
country. Most but not all Latin American
jurisdictions have a legal system based in civil law, but each country within
Latin America has a wholly unique legal system. The civil law countries of
Latin America simply share a “family resemblance” in that many evolved from the
Spanish and the Portuguese yet “they do not have a common essence, but rather
interrelate with each other in a complex manner.” [[1]] Therefore, you
should always consult a research guide to understand each country’s legal
system.
Researching
the law in a civil law system often requires digging into the codes and related
commentary and doctrine. It is often helpful to examine a relevant and authoritative
secondary source such as a legal encyclopedia, law journal article, or book,
which will often cite the primary law (constitution, legislation/laws/codes
(with commentary), judicial opinions (caution!). Remember, judicial decisions in civil law
jurisdictions are generally not precedent as they are in common law
jurisdictions.
This research
guide focuses on online resources. It
will help you find research guides and tools to help you begin your research
and familiarize yourself with a country’s legal system. It will also assist
you in locating secondary resources and primary law. This research guide does not list websites for individual
countries – please see the Country-by-Country Guide to Foreign Law Research and individual country research guides in GlobaLex for this specific information.
An * asterisk * indicates
a subscription database.
Finding the Law of Latin American Countries
Legal
Research Guides
Some of these research guides are not specific to Latin America but
cover the topic generally.
Legal
research guides for many countries.
This
is a great resource for locating foreign law available in English.
An
excellent print resource for learning how to conduct (and teach) foreign and
international legal research.
A
print guide to finding foreign and international material.
*Subscription
databases
Determine
the legal system of the country you are researching: Civil law, Common law, Customary law, Muslim law, Talmudic law, and Mixed law
systems.
Search
by abbreviation or keyword to find legal titles worldwide.
Database of
legal terms translated into many languages.
This study
on access to judicial information in ten Latin American countries, carried out
by the Due Process of Law Foundation, assesses the principal laws and
regulations on access to judicial information in Argentina, Chile, Colombia,
the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Panama, and Uruguay.
Created by
the Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México (UNAM), this virtual library contains over 35 online full-text foreign
and international journals including several indexed in IFLP.
English-language
translations of broadcast transcripts, news agency transmissions, newspaper and
periodical articles, and government statements from countries around the world.*
Index of
foreign and international law review articles (if you don't find the journal in
Morris via Ovid's links, do a Title search in Morris for the
journal just to be sure).
A
virtual library providing legal information on mutual assistance and
extradition for the 34 OAS member states.
A
multidisciplinary portal to websites and resources all over Latin America,
including a category for legal resources with regional and
country-specific links.
This is a
work-in-progress website of legal titles and holdings of law libraries with
Latin American collections; this is not a searchable database but rather a list
of titles linked to the catalog.
Full-text information in Spanish and Portuguese from 41 newspapers from
Puerto Rico and Latin America.
An annual
public opinion survey that involves some 19,000 interviews in 18 Latin American
countries, representing more than 400 million inhabitants, focusing on the
development of democracy, economies, and societies.
Scientific
Electronic Library Online - mostly scientific journals with a few but growing
number of legal titles; consolidates Iberian and Latin American journals in an
open-access, full-text database; searchable in English, Spanish and Portuguese,
by subject, author, keyword, or browse each journal.
Other Suggested News Sources
Current and historical Latin American
constitutions.
Law Library
of Congress' public database of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and
other complementary legal sources contributed by governmental agencies and
international organizations; official documents in original language with some
English translations.
A
virtual library providing legal information on mutual assistance and
extradition for the 34 OAS member states.
Created by
the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, find laws, regulations,
case law, and secondary source materials for twenty-five Latin American
countries in Spanish; many English translations.
An invaluable portal to finding recent laws,
decrees, and codes from all over Latin America, in the vernacular;
also includes a regional section, which contains treaties, conventions,
reports and useful information for the Latin American region as a whole.
University
of Denver's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program's portal to finding
country-specific legislation, international treaties, journals, and websites
for foreign and international environmental law research
Official
site - contains official documents, treaties, legal opinions, resolutions,
declarations, news, etc. English, Spanish, Portuguese, French.
Georgetown
Center for Latin America Studies' database of Constitutions, Governments,
and much more; excellent resource for comparative study of Latin American
legal systems and governments.
Finding International Law of Latin America
These
research guides are not specific to Latin America but cover the topic
generally.
Includes
guides for many international law topics.
Internet directory of international
affairs, foreign relations, studies, news, etc.
Many research guides on different aspects of
international law research.
Many research guides on different aspects of
international law research.
Treaties,
Conventions, and Agreements
American
Society of International Law's (ASIL) Electronic Information System for
International Law is a comprehensive database for primary documents,
websites, and research guides. It is a
great first stop for finding international agreements; search by title,
subject, or keyword.
The Legal Services Department has compiled
and made accessible bilateral and multilateral treaties and agreements, laws,
and judgments made within the Inter-American system and outside of the system
as well.
Cases and
reports of the Commission, headquartered in Washington DC, created in 1959 as
an autonomous body of the OAS that
provides recourse to individuals who have suffered human rights violations.
International Courts & Tribunals
Search
ASIL's compilation of international laws, decisions and declaration on Westlaw* (database:
ILM) and Lexis* (file-name:
ILM) and HeinOnline*.
A forum for
applied research, reflection and forward thinking on matters of international
human rights policy; find research reports and briefing papers with policy
recommendations.
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* (see the above section on Courts and Tribunals for
more websites and databases for searching human rights cases).
International Environmental Law
International Business, Investment, and Trade
An
organization that promotes development and cooperation between Bolivia,
Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
An
organization that aims for economic and social development of the Commonwealth
Caribbean.
The
World Bank's open-access law library to business laws and regulations around the
world.
An
organization of 34 democracies in the region that aim for political and
cultural
cooperation.
Over 300
awards; search jurisprudence alongside other areas of international law.
Oxford
University Press’ resource for materials and analysis in the field of
international investment law and arbitration; contains awards you may not
find in ICSID Reports and database.
Worldwide
coverage of commercial and investment arbitration; case law, commentary,
conventions, legislation, rules.
A variety of business, arbitration, environmental,
tax, and trade law titles.
A Latin
American organization dedicated to integration between its 12 Latin American
member states.
Mercosur
is a regional trade agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and
Uruguay.
National Law
Center for Inter-American Free Trade. Find laws, regulations, case law, and secondary source materials
for twenty-five Latin American countries in Spanish; many English translations.
Some recent
material (e.g. decisions of the Corte Suprema, a few códigos, legislation) is
also available on the LexisNexis subscriptions available at U.S. law schools.