Research centres and projects

China Guiding Cases Project

Collection of ‘guiding cases’ decided by the Supreme People’s Court of China, translated into English and made available by the China Guiding Cases Project (CGCP) at Stanford Law School in the US. Guiding cases are decisions that have been designated as leading cases, under a procedure introduced in 2010. The website also includes expert commentary on the cases. The Law Summaries page has outlines of the Chinese law of contract, intellectual property, labour and the environment/natural resources with links to translated laws on these subjects. The website is in English and Chinese.

Virtuelles Datenschutzbüro

German portal project to provide advice and support relating to data protection and freedom of information to both commercial and personal users. Users can choose from a selection of keywords which both lead to a collection of full text documents, including relevant German legislation, and provide a gateway to resources on other sites. It is also possible to search the site using Boolean operators. The project offers a wide range of training events and details are provided.

Qatar Law Forum

Qatar Law Forum is an international conference hosted in Doha under the patronage of the Emir of Qatar. It aims to discuss the Rule of Law and related issues of international law and has been convened twice, in 2009 and 2012. The forum’s English website provides links to news articles relating to the forum and also provides documents on the discussions including newsletters, the text of some of the speeches and a discussion paper on the role of ethics in finance. The site also features YouTube clips of the conference and photographs.

Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO)

This website from the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office provides information on Belgian federal science policy, including overviews of current research programmes, details of international and bilateral co-operation and coordination in the field and upcoming conferences and symposia. Air and space policy and law is covered in some detail. The site gives an overview of Belgian space law and provides links to the English text of the Law on the Activities of Launching, Flight Operation or Guidance of Space Objects (2005) and also of the Royal Implementing Decree (2008).

Public Committee Against Torture in Israel

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel was founded in 1990 to oppose the use of torture and ill-treatment by the Israeli interrogation and law enforcement authorities. The website is available in English and Arabic. It includes press releases and reports on the use of torture by Israeli authorities and the flaws in the judicial processes involved in addressing complaints of torture. It also features English translations of petitions presented to the Israeli authorities.

Justiz und NS-Verbrechen

The site presents a systematic overview of the cases heard and sentences passed for Nazi Crimes both in East and West Germany. The content is taken from the printed series “Justiz und NS Verbrechen: Sammlung Deutscher Strafurteile wegen nationalsozialistischer Tötungsverbrechen” which began publication in 1945 and is still ongoing. The trials featured are the National Socialist homicidal trials. It is currently possible to browse using different entry points eg. defendants, victims or category of crime.

Latin American Government Documents Archive

The Latin American Government Documents Archive (LAGDA) is one of several resources managed by the Latin American Web Archiving Project, which is based at the University of Texas Libraries. Its aim is to preserve and make available archives of websites from the governments of 18 Latin American countries. The archived sites include documents and video and audio recordings. The records available start in 2005-6 and the project is ongoing. The materials can be selected from a list according to jurisdiction and government department and can also be searched by keywords.

Political Database of the Americas

A non governmental project maintained by the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University, USA in collaboration with other bodies. It was started in 1995. A principal feature of the site is a study of the constitutions of the Latin American countries, with the full text of the relevant Constitution. For each country suggestions are made of additional supporting literature but only the bibliographical information is available. There is also background information about other topics including the electoral system and political parties of the countries.

African Legislatures Project

The African Legislatures Project (ALP) is based at the Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa. The project conducts research into the way that the legislatures function. English is the main language but the introductory article in PDF which gives the background to the project is also available in French and Portuguese. Full-text access is given free of charge to a variety of Country Reports, Working Papers, text of Constitutions of the countries covered and Conference Papers.

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