Legislation

Judicial Yuan of the Republic of China: Law and Regulations Retrieving System

This website provides English translations of the rulings (‘Interpretations’) of the constitutional court, the Council of Grand Justices of the Republic of China / Taiwan. Interpretations are available from 1949 onwards; they are provided by the Taiwanese judicial authority, or Judicial Yuan. The website also has a database of translated laws from about 1990 onwards. 

Database of laws and regulations

Collection of Chinese legislation in English translation, made available free of charge by the National People’s Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China. Provides the Constitution and constitutional amendments, together with a large selection of laws and administrative regulations, mainly from the 1990s onwards. Can be browsed by broad subject area (also has a search facility, but this does not seem to work properly).

Parlamentsspiegel

Parlamentsspiegel is the parliamentary documentation system of the German states (Laender). It provides databases of parliamentary papers (Drucksachen), parliamentary debates (Plenarprotokolle) and official gazettes (Gesetzblaetter), covering various date ranges. Some Federal publications are also available, notably the Federal Official Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt), from 1980 onwards. To search for bills and laws only, see ‘Gesetzgebung’. The site is entirely in German.

Constitution of Belgium

This site contains the full text of the 1994 Belgian Constitution, made freely available in English by International Constitutional Law (ICL) at the University of Bern in Switzerland. A constitutional background is provided including history and revisions. The Constitution covers the structure of the state, citizens’ rights, the legislature, the monarchy, the executive, provincial, regional and local government and bodies, the judiciary and constitutional court, international relations, finance, the army and police and the revision of the constitution.

Bundesgesetzblatt

Every issue of the Bundesgesetzblatt, the German Federal Official Gazette, is provided free of charge on this website by the official publisher, the Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Part I (Teil I) contains laws and ministerial orders and is available from 1949 onwards; part II (Teil II) contains international agreements and is available from 1951 onwards; the Index (Fundstellennachweis) is also provided. The free version can be browsed by date, but for searching, printing, copying or downloading a subscription is required. The site is in German only.

Congress.gov

Congress.gov is the official website for United States federal legislative information, launched in September 2012. The service includes bill texts, summary and status information with a timeline feature. The Congressional Record is available from 1989/90 (101st Congress) onwards. There are also member profiles showing legislation sponsored and co-sponsored.

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights was founded by Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists in 1995. It aims to promote the causes of human rights, the rule of law, democratic institutions and Palestinian independence. The Centre’s website can be read in English or in Arabic and features press releases, reports, position papers, and statistics. This material focuses on human rights violations and the weakening of democratic institutions by Israeli Occupation Forces and also by Hamas and Fatah.

Palestinian Basic Law

This unaffiliated website was created by Norwegian journalists Erik Bolstad and Tonje Merete Viken in February 2008. The site provides English translations of past and present versions of the Basic Law and drafts that were not passed. It also links to English translations of the Elections law and Presidential decrees as well as expert opinions on issues surrounding Palestinian elections.

Afghanistan Legal Education Project (ALEP)

ALEP, based at Stanford Law School in the US, develops law curricula for Afghan universities and produces books and other legal material to support them. The Project’s website has a Publications section which provides freely downloadable textbooks on Afghan and international law (seven in English, three in Dari and two in Pashto). It also makes available English translations of Afghan legislation: the Civil Code, the Commercial Code, and laws collected in statutory supplements to two of the textbooks.

Ministry of Environmental Protection

Official website for the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection. There is information about the ministry and its ministers. Summaries of relevant laws, publications and news items are given on a range of environmental issues including air pollution, animal welfare, asbestos, climate, green building and hazardous materials. There is a news feed and regular e-bulletins. The site is available in Arabic, Hebrew and English.

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