Please refer to the Bluebook section(s) below before beginning your research.
Start with our A-Z List of Countries
1. "Official" English translations are extremely difficult to locate
For the most part, you will be looking for the most official or authoritative version of the document which will typically be in the original language. Bluebook rule 20.2.1.
2. Search titles using the original language
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. Bluebook rules 20.2.2 and 20.2.4.
3. Search websites in the original language
It is tempting to simply click on the "English" button when available. 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.
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. Use University of Ottawa's JuriGlobe: World Legal Systems or our A-Z List of Countries to determine whether your country is a common law or civil law jurisdiction.
Think of access to your 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).
Westlaw and Lexis vary greatly in their coverage of the law of other countries. Use our A-Z List of Countries to see what is available on both databases.
Since Westlaw and Lexis are both U.S. databases, it is very likely that these databases will contain only limited secondary source publications or even nothing at all.
See our Foreign Law guide for more general research tips (not specific to cite checking).
Contact Melissa Abernathy
Foreign & International Law Librarian
USD Legal Research Center
(619) 260-4734
mabernathy@sandiego.edu
