UPDATE: Comparative Criminal Procedure – A Select Bibliography

By Lyonette Louis-Jacques

Lyonette Louis-Jacques is Foreign and International Law Librarian and Lecturer in Law at the D'Angelo Law Library, University of Chicago Law School. Lyo received her B.A. degree and her J.D. from the University of Chicago, and her library science degree from the University of Michigan. She was the Foreign and International Legal Reference Librarian at the University of Minnesota Law Library from 1986-1992 prior to her current position at the University of Chicago Law School. She teaches foreign, comparative, and international legal research and has written many articles on that topic in publications such as the Chicago Journal of International Law, Legal Reference Services Quarterly, and the International Journal of Legal Information. In particular, Lyo is the author of the “Law Lists” directory of law-related email listservs and other online discussion forums (updated through 2005) and the original Jumpstart guide to foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) research specialists. She wrote a “Legal Information” column for Slaw – Canada’s Online Legal Magazine from 2010-2020. She is co-founder with Mila Rush of the INT-LAW listserv for FCIL librarians and other legal information professionals. Lyo is a member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), the American Society of International Law (ASIL), the International Association of Law Libraries (IALL), and several other law and library-related organizations.

Published May/June 2021

(Previously updated in June/July 2013 and in November/December 2016)

See the Archive Version!

1. Introduction

This bibliography lists selected English-language resources on comparative criminal procedure. It focuses on journal articles, book chapters, and treatises covering comparative criminal procedure generally, criminal procedure in multiple jurisdictions, and specialized research topics in comparative criminal procedure such as: arrest, pre-trial detention, criminal investigation, criminal evidence, interrogation, right to counsel, legal assistance for indigent defendants, discovery, plea bargaining, trial by jury, the privilege against self-incrimination, inquisitorial versus accusatorial systems, role of prosecutors, judges and defense attorneys, cross-examination, exclusionary rules, sentencing, criminal appeals, and double jeopardy. A few comparative international criminal procedure titles are included.

Relevant Library of Congress subject headings for searching U.S. library catalogs and union catalogs such as WorldCat include the following. Note that general comparative or multi-jurisdictional works are listed under the main subject headings:

2. Primary Legal Materials

You can locate translations of foreign criminal procedure codes by searching in library catalogs, legal research guides and bibliographies (such as Foreign Law Guide and GlobaLex), specialized publications or sites containing translations, databases such as HeinOnline, websites of relevant government agencies such as ministries of justice, and related inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) such as the OSCE/ODIHR (Legislationline) and the UNODC/IMoLIN (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime/International Money Laundering Information Network) Anti-Money-Laundering International Database (AMLID) legislation/regulations for 120 countries). Sometimes searches of full text journal or book databases will be useful in obtaining citations to criminal procedure codes in English translation.

Selected Country Criminal Procedural Codes in Translation

Sources for Locating Criminal Procedure Codes in English Translation

American Series of Foreign Penal Codes (Buffalo, NY: William S. Hein): English translations of foreign criminal and criminal procedures codes formerly published by F. B. Rothman and now online via HeinOnline. Includes the French Code of Criminal Procedure (1988), the German Code of Criminal Procedure (1973), the Israeli Criminal Procedure Law (2001), and the Criminal Procedure Code of the People’s Republic of China and Related Documents (1985). Useful for historical research.

AMLID: the UNODC/IMoLIN (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime/International Money Laundering Information Network) Anti-Money-Laundering International Database; legislation/regulations for 120 countries.

Foreign Law Guide (Brill/Martinus Nijhoff, May 2012- ): The FLG is a web-based subscription service via BrillOnline Reference Works including references to criminal procedure codes in the vernacular and in English translation for many countries. It began as a loose-leaf service compiled by Thomas (Tom) H. Reynolds and Arturo A. Flores titled Foreign Law: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World (Littleton, Colo.: F.B. Rothman; W.S. Hein, 1989-summer 2007), then also web-based from 2000 until June 24, 2013). The Foreign Law Guide or FLG includes in an alphabetical listing by country under each country, a subject arrangement which references laws and codes in English translation with links to free Internet sources thereof.

GlobaLex (founded and edited by Mirela Roznovschi 2005-2015; now edited by Lucie Olejnikova 2015-present, Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU School of Law) (open access publication). The “Foreign Law Research” section of GlobaLex includes legal research articles for over 100 countries. Many of the articles include sections on the basic codes including criminal procedure codes and have sections on how to locate laws in English translation.

Legislationline (Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR)). Legislationline includes links to English translations of texts of legislation of European countries on the police, prisons, right to a fair trial, judicial and prosecution systems, and the death penalty. Under “Criminal Codes” in the OSCE/ODIHR Documentation Center are English versions of criminal procedure/penal procedure codes or acts for most of the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. The dates of amendment vary. Some codes of criminal procedure are translated through their amendments as of 1988, some as of 2020.

SHERLOC (Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws on Crime, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Database of Legislation). SHERLOC contains full texts of criminal procedure codes/acts/laws for various countries in English translation; about 675 pieces of legislation from a Search By Keyword for: criminal procedure.

WorldCat (OCLC; free web discovery service): The WorldCat bibliographic service includes holdings from catalogs of thousands of libraries worldwide. To locate English translations of foreign criminal procedure codes or laws, you can search by the country as an Author and by Title: criminal procedure code. You can also search for Title: penal procedure code. You can search by the title of the code in the vernacular/original language and then limit/filter/refine by the language in which you want the translation or use the Advanced Search page to limit by language directly. You can get the vernacular names of criminal procedure codes by using the Foreign Law Guide or GlobaLex. For example, you can find libraries holding separately published print (or e-cataloged) English translations of Turkey’s criminal procedure code (Ceza muhakemesi kanunu) via WorldCat.

3. Books

4. Book Chapters and Journal Articles

5. Journals

6. Organizations and Research Institutes