This page highlights strategies for USD cite-checkers in locating laws and cases of other countries. If you are looking for treaties, international cases (e.g. International Court of Justice), United Nations, or European Union sources, see the International Materials page.
The general rules for citing foreign materials, including non-English-language documents, are found in Bluebook Rule 20. The rules apply to legal and nonlegal sources. Examples of jurisdiction-specific legal citations can be found in Table T2, which is only available online.
The LRC's guide to Foreign Law (Laws of Other Countries) includes information on how to find legal materials for countries listed in alphabetical order.
It can often be difficult to locate sources, particularly in languages other than English. Bluebook Rule 20.2.1 requires citing to the most official or authoritative version of a source; this will typically be a version in the source's original language. There may not be an official or authoritative version of a source in English. Cite-checkers may need to work with their editors to determine if a source authoritative enough for cite-checking purposes.
Sometimes authors will translate a title from the original language into English in their footnote(s). This is especially common with non-Roman alphabet languages like Russian (русский), Chinese (中文), Hindi (हिंदू), etc., but can happen with Roman alphabet languages too. While this may seem helpful, this is not useful for citechecking. You will need to search the LRC catalog, Circuit, and/or Worldcat, by the original transliterated title. Thus, a book cited as 生物科技與專利法 or Biotechnology and Patent Law becomes Sheng wu ke ji yu zhuan li fa. Use Google Translate for help with reverse translation or transliteration. Use the transliterated title for your corrected footnote.
It is tempting to simply click on the "English" button when available on a website. However, many English websites are pared down versions of the original website rather than direct translations. For example, compare the English version of the Turkish Patent Institute website (the main body overseeing IP in Turkey) with the Turkish version. The Turkish version is much more robust and has the most current IP legislation from 2016, along with the implementing regulations in 2017. The English version does not. Instead of using the linked English portal, use your browser to translate the Turkish page (e.g. the Google Translate extension in Google Chrome). If you are using a search box on a website in another language you will need to enter your search terms in that language. Use Google Translate to generate search terms. You can also use the Google Translate app on your phone to view and translate text through your camera.
It can be helpful to determine if your country is a civil law or common law jurisdiction. Since civil law countries are statutory based, case law can be hard to locate. Cases may not be reported in a systematic and organized way. The University of Ottawa's JuriGlobe: World Legal Systems or the LRC's Foreign Law guide will say whether a country is a common law or civil law jurisdiction.
Also think of access to a case in terms of how you would evaluate a U.S. case. If it is a Supreme Court or Constitutional Court case, it is much more likely that you will be able to locate your case in a free legal database or government website. How old is the case? Do you have a citation to a published reporter? Just like the United States, many cases from lower courts are not selected for publication. These cases will be more difficult to find unless you have access to a paid subscription database (e.g. in the United States we use Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg, and Pacer).