In other words, to find out if a statute applies in a particular instance it is necessary not only to read the words of the statute, but also to look at court decisions interpreting the statute. Luckily, there are often law review articles and ALR annotations about statute-based topics as well, so following the strategies suggested above should be helpful here as well. Another way to research a statute-based topic is to begin by finding the statute itself. Many states, and the federal government, have mounted their statutory codes on the World Wide Web. With the growing globalization of the world economy, international law is having a bigger and bigger impact on American law and many law-related disciplines.
Foreign law is actually the domestic law of foreign countries.
If you need to research the laws of a country other than the United States, please remember that most law is published in the language of the country, so it is helpful to restrict your research to countries for which you can speak and read the language. Also, the Law Library does not have an extensive collection of foreign law. Law Reference Area KF 190 .M39, provides summaries in English and citations to authority for many basic areas of law in most major jurisdictions in the world. Constitutions of the Countries of the World , Law General Collection K 3157 .A2B53, provides English translations of updated texts of foreign constitutions as well as annotated bibliographies of sources of law. Private international law applies when private citizens of different countries interact or transact business.