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Official Gazettes - Europe (559 KB)
European official gazettes: introduction and description*
Official gazettes are basically the medium by which national and sub-national governments officially disseminate new legislation, regulations, orders and decisions of government bodies, and official announcements, although not always in full text. Some gazettes also contain the texts of international agreements, court decisions and legislative debates.
Not all gazettes contain both legal and administrative information. Some governments issue two: one for administrative announcements and one for the promulgation of laws and regulations.
The list brings together the holdings of national official gazettes of the British Library and the Library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London. It is hoped that the holdings of other UK institutions will be added in future with a view to providing a comprehensive union listing of these hard-to-find materials. Where possible, explanatory notes about contents, history and the availability of electronic versions have been added. It should be noted that due to the size of the runs it has not been possible to give detailed information about completeness. Anyone searching for specific issues would be advised to enquire in advance of a visit to the holding library about availability of these issues.
British Library official publications are in the main housed off-site so should be ordered at least 24 hours in advance of a planned visit. For general information about admissions, use of the collections and ordering material see the British Library Social Policy Information Service web site:
https://www.bl.uk/subjects/social-sciences
For specific enquiries, please contact the Official Publications and Social Sciences phone enquiry service on 020 7412 7536, 09:30-17:00 Mondays to Fridays or email on social-policy@bl.uk.
For information about admission to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library see our admissions page
Several official gazettes are housed off-site and should be requested 72 hours in advance of the planned visit. For further information about the offsite store see here for further information on requesting items.
Because of the complex nature of official gazettes, this list should be viewed as a work-in-progress rather than a complete or perfect finished product. We welcome your comments, corrections, updates and criticisms which should be addressed to:
Gazettes in West European languages:
Jennie Grimshaw
Social Policy Information Service
British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
Email: jennie.grimshaw@bl.uk
Gazettes in Slavonic and East European languages:
Janet Zmroczek
Slavonic and East European Collections
British Library
96 Euston Rd
London NW1 2DB
Email: slavonic@bl.uk
Sources used to compile the list
FLAG Foreign Law Guide database
EFOG - European Forum of Official Gazettes
Jenny Brine "The former Soviet Union" pp. 342-368; Anne Pries "Eastern Europe" pp. 405-466 in Information sources in official publications edited by Valerie J. Nurcombe. London: Bowker Saur, 1997
Information sources in law 2nd ed. edited by Jules Winterton and Elizabeth M.Moys
London: Bowker Saur, 1997
Official Gazettes card file in OP&SS Reading Room, British Library
Official publications of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe 1945-1980
edited by Gregory Walker London: Mansell, 1982
Global Law Information Network (supported by the Library of Congress until 2012) at: https://www.glinf.org/
LLRX.Com Comparative and foreign law guides at: https://www.llrx.com/category/legal-research/comparative-foreign-law/
Card files, kardexes, SACHET (serials registering system) in British Library
Eastview Information Services 2003 Periodicals catalog: information resources from Russia/NIS (major US periodical agent's catalogue)
European governments on the WWW http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/europa.html
Internet resources by state Slavonic and East European Collections, British Library https://www.bl.uk/subjects/slavonic-studies
Advice from colleagues in Slavonic and East European Collections, British Library; Peter Roudik (Law Library of Congress) and Anne Pries and Joke Bakker (University of Leiden)
A Guide to official gazettes and their contents compiled by J.E. Roberts. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: Law Library, Library of Congress, 1985
Guide to official publications of foreign countries edited by G. Westfall. 2nd ed. Government Documents Round Table, American Library Association, 1997
Official Publications of Western Europe edited by E. Johansson. London: Mansell, 1984-88