UPDATE: Sources of Online Legal Information for African Countries

By Jane Williams

Updated by Vincent Moyer

Vincent Moyer (B.S., J.D., and M.S. from the University of Illinois) is the Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, California.

Jane Williams is the Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian Emerita at the University of Illinois Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Memorial Law Library. She holds a JD & MSLS from the Wayne State University (Detroit).

Published January 2019

(Previously updated by Jane Williams in August 2007, March/April 2009, May/June 2011 and April/May 2015)

See the Archive Version!

1. Introduction

The purpose of this article is to identify online resources for locating the legal materials of African states. It will first identify meta-sites useful for both background information and links to legal information. The next part will identify secondary sources, which can help locate sources and issues. The third section will list primary sources grouped by region, topic, and country. The final part will list the websites of some African regional organizations.

There are 54 recognized states and territories in Africa according to the United Nations. However, there are disputed territories that could change the number of countries. The post-colonial period, through much of the continent, has been characterized by political instability, civil strife, war, economic underdevelopment, and weak legal systems. Thus, only a few African countries have a strong history of publishing and disseminating legal materials.

A useful source for determining what legislative materials are published for each jurisdiction is the Foreign Law Guide published online as a subscription database by Brill (General Editor: Marci Hoffman). If you have access (through your local law school library or county law library), the Foreign Law Guide is a good starting point for locating African laws. This fee-based database permits searching by country, provides brief introductions to the legal systems, lists current codes, and identifies available English translations.

In the past decade, there has been a trend in some countries toward better governance and transparency. Increasing numbers of governments have websites and/or parliamentary sites, some of which provide news, government reports, and other documents. Meta-sites, which include links to governments’ websites, country information, and legal information, include the following:

2. Secondary Sources

Given that there are a limited number of comprehensive databases or internet sites for the legal materials of African countries, and that few law libraries have complete collections, secondary materials are important for identifying issues, recent developments, and documents. These include news sources, indexes, library and institute catalogues, journals, and papers.

2.1 News Sources

2.2 Indexes and Catalogues

3. Primary Sources

One can find online legal materials for African countries in fee-based databases, within subject or regional collections, and on various country specific sites. Few of the internet sites are comprehensive and it can sometimes be difficult to determine the currency of the information.

3.1 Subscription Databases

3.2 Regional Collections

3.3 Subject Collections

Agriculture, Environment, Food and Natural Resources:

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations provides several important legal online databases (Thematic Collections / Associated Databases) including:

Business Law:

Competition Law:

Constitutions and Constitutional Law:

Copyright, Patents, and Trademarks:

Criminal Law:

Customary Law:

Drugs:

Health Law:

Human Rights:

Humanitarian Law:

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provides three databases on international humanitarian law:

Labor Law:

Land Law & Housing:

Non-Profit Law:

Occupational Safety and Health:

Refugees:

Restorative Justice:

Tax and Commercial Law:

3.4 Resources by Country

Algeria:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Angola:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Benin:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Botswana:

Collections:

Research Guide:

Burkina Faso:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Burundi:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Cabo Verde:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Cameroon:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Central African Republic:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Chad:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Comoros:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Congo (Democratic Republic)

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide

Congo (Republic):

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Côte d'Ivoire:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Djibouti:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Egypt:

Law and legislation:

Research Guide

Equatorial Guinea:

Law and Legislation:

Eritrea:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide

Ethiopia:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide

Gabon:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Gambia:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Ghana:

Subscription database:

Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Guinea:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Guinea-Bissau:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Kenya:

Databases:

Subscription Database:

Research Guide:

Lesotho:

Database:

Research Guide:

Liberia:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Libya:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Madagascar:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Malawi:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Mali:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Mauritania:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guide:

Mauritius:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Morocco:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Mozambique:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Namibia:

Subscription database:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Niger:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guides:

Nigeria:

Collection:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Rwanda:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Special Tribunal:

Research Guide:

São Tomé and Príncipe:

Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Senegal:

Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guide:

Seychelles:

Collections:

Legislation:

Research Guides:

Sierra Leone:

Collections:

Legislation:

Special Tribunal:

Research Guides:

Somalia:

Legislation:

Research Guides:

South Africa:

Subscription databases:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence: In addition to the SAFLII database, the following courts provide decisions on their websites:

Research guides:

South Sudan:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Sudan:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Swaziland (Kingdom of Eswatini):

Collections:

Legislation:

Research Guides:

Tanzania:

Subscription databases:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guides:

Togo:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Jurisprudence:

Research Guides:

Tunisia:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Uganda:

Subscription database:

Collection:

Research Guides:

Zambia

Subscription database:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

Zimbabwe:

Subscription database:

Collections:

Law and Legislation:

Research Guides:

4. Websites of Regional Organizations