legal history

Early English Laws

The Early English Laws project has undertaken to produce new editions and translations of all English law codes, edicts and treatises up to the year 1215, and to publish them on this website and in print. Numerous new editions are already available on the Laws page, together with digitized versions of the original source manuscripts. It is possible to view corresponding pages of the manuscripts and edited texts side-by-side, and scholars may add their comments online. The Reference page provides a set of essays, a bibliography and a glossary.

Haymarket Affair Digital Collection

The Haymarket Affair Digital Collection has been created by the Chicago Historical Society and is made freely available on their website. The Haymarket Affair refers to the violent confrontation between protestors supporting striking workers and the police which took place in Chicago's Haymarket Square in May 1886. The protestors were convicted after a bomb was thrown and several police killed.

Stair Society

Website of the Stair Society an organisation established in 1934 "to encourage the study and advance the knowledge of Scots Law by the publication of original documents and by the reprinting and editing of works of sufficient rarity or importance". The site has organisational and membership information about the Society and details are given of the annual lectures held by the Society.

Scottish legal history: a research guide

Online guide to Scottish legal history, from the feudal period to 1901, written by Yasmin Morais who is Cataloging Librarian at the Mason Law Library, University of the District of Columbia. The guide was published in 2008 (and updated in 2017) on the Globalex website and made freely available by the Hauser Global Law School at the New York University School of Law. The guide gives an introduction to the development of the court system and the establishment of the early Scottish parliament.

English Reports

A CommonLII database providing free access to the English Reports, a collection of the most important cases reported between 1220 and 1873. Decisions can be searched or browsed by case name or date and downloaded in PDF format. Data has been supplied by online legal publisher, Justis. The Commonwealth Legal Information Institute (CommonLII) is a collaborative service providing free access to primary legal materials from Commonwealth and common law countries and territories.

United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law: Historic Archives

Website of the Historic Archives section of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law. The Library is a free online multimedia resource of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. The Historic Archives collection focuses on key legal instruments covering a wide range of international law topics including criminal law, disarmament, environmental law, human rights, international economic law, law of outer space and the law of the sea.

English medieval legal documents database: a compilation of published sources from 600 - 1535

Online bibliography of published sources of English medieval legal documents compiled by Hazel Lord, Senior Law Librarian at the University of Southern California School of Law, and updated by Paul Moorman. Intended for scholars and students of English medieval law, the database takes the form of a research guide, with links to the university's library catalogue. Broad categories include case law, statutory law, administrative law, private legal documents, writs and pleadings, treatises, research guides and bibliographies; these categories are further subdivided by resource type and date.
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