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Government Publications and Law |
Find Laws & Regulations
Federal Laws & Regulations
US Code & Statutes
- United States Code (USC)
- via GPO Access
- via LexisNexis Academic>Legal>Federal & State Codes Annotated with history and case notes. Requires UCSC or OCA access
- US Statutes at Large
- 2006 - most current (GPO Access: 109th Congress)
- 1789 - 1925 (Univ. of Cincinnati)
- 1789 - 1875 (American Memory Project)
- LexisNexis Congressional>Bills & Laws (1970- current) Requires UCSC or OCA access.
- Statutes at Large Index: Acts by Popular Name
- About US Statutes at Large
- Public & Private Laws
- 104th congress (1995) to current; via GPO FDsys
- About Public & Private Laws
- The American Presidency Project
- Full-text of signing statements from 1929 to current. Signing statements are assembled from the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, and the Public Papers of the President. From UC Santa Barbara.
- THOMAS
- Full text bills: 101st congress to current year
Regulations (Administrative Law)
- Code of Federal Regulations (official via GPO Access)
- e-CFR
- LexisNexis Academic>Federal & State Codes
- CFR with annotations and Federal Register for 1980 to current. Requires UCSC or OCA access
- Federal Register
- The Federal Register: What it is and how to use it
- Regulations.gov
- Includes regulations open for public comment, final regulations, and non-rulemaking documents
- OpenRegs.com
- A private "user friendly" version of Regulations.gov
- Administrative Decisions & Other Actions
- From the Univ. of Virginia; links to administrative decisions by agency/subject
Constitution
- Constitution of the United States
- Guide to Law Online: US Constitution
- Includes historical texts: Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, etc.; from the Library of Congress
- Charters of Freedom
- Includes images of the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence; from the National Archives
- LexisNexis Academic>Federal & State Codes
- US Constitution annotated with case notes, histories, etc. Requires UCSC or OCA access.
Federal Courts & Case Law
California Laws & Regulations
California Codes & Statutes
- California Code
- Full-text of the 29 California codes, unannotated; from the Legislative Counsel
- LexisNexis Academic>State Codes
- Annotated with history and case notes. Requires UCSC or OCA access
- California Statutes
- 1993 to current
- California Law Revision Commission
- The purpose of the CLRC is the "review of California statutory and decisional law...to discover defects and anachronisms and recommends legislation to make needed reforms"
California Regulations (Administrative Law)
- California Code of Regulations
- Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations contains some copyrighted material and is unavailable at the above website. The following sites contain some parts of Title 24:
- What is a Regulation?
- California Regulatory Notice Register
- Office of Administrative Law
California Constitution
California Courts & Case Law
Other States
- State Legal Materials
- Links to State Constitutions, judicial opinions, statutes, and regulations; from the Legal Information Institute at Cornell
- LexisNexis Academic>State Codes
- Annotated with history and case notes. Requires UCSC or OCA access
- Guide to State Law Online
- Links to State judicial, executive, and legislative branch materials; from the Library of Congress
County & Municipal
County Codes
Municipal Codes
- Capitola Municipal Code
- Santa Cruz Municipal Code
- Scotts Valley Municipal Code
- Watsonville Municipal Code
- California Municipal Codes
- US City & Town Web Index (by State)
Foreign Laws
- British and Irish Legal Information Institute
- "Find British and Irish case law & legislation, European Union case law, Law Commission reports, and other law-related British and Irish material" in 76 databases covering 7 jurisdictions
- CanLII: Canadian Legal Information Institute
- Includes federal, provincial, and territorial court rules and decisions, statutes and regulations, and other Canadian legal documents
- Guide to Foreign Databases by Jurisdiction
- From NYU Law; find foreign legal resources by country, includes guides to foreign legal research
- LexisNexis Academic>European Union...
- Includes legislation and court cases for multiple countries including Canada, the EU, Australia, etc. Requires UCSC or OCA access.
- World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII)
- Case-law, legislation, treaties, law reform reports, law journals and links to official government websites by country or subject
- Global Legal Information Network (GLIN)
- Database of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, etc. of foreign government agencies and international organizations; from the Library of Congress
- Guide to law online: Nations of the World
- Legal information by country; from the Library of Congress
- Foreign Legal Gazettes
- Published by governments worldwide are the means the government can communicate with officials and the general public; listed alphabetically by country
International Law
- International Law
- Overview of International Law and links to materials; from Cornell Univ. Law School
- International Legal Research Tutorial
- Treaty research guides, links to international organizations, etc.; from Duke Univ. School of Law
- GATT Digital Library (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)
- Find documents, information and resources about GATT
- Office of the United States Trade Representative
- Includes full-text global, regional, and bilateral trade agreements
- Treaty Affairs
- From the US Dept. of State; includes Treaty Reports, Treaties in Force, the Treaties & Other International Acts Series, etc.
- Treaties
- From the Library of Congress; covers 90th congress to current
- United Nations Treaty Collection
- Multilateral treaties deposited with the UN, UN Treaty Series and cumulative index, status of treaties, etc.
- LexisNexis Academic>US Treaties on LEXIS
- Full text of ratified and unratified treaties from 1776 to current. Requires UCSC or OCA access
Research & Citation Guides
Legal Research Guides
- Legal Studies Subject Guide
- How to Find a Court Case
- Guide to Law Online
- From the Law Library of Congress; "annotated compendium of Internet links; a portal of Internet sources of interest to legal researchers"
- Guide to Legal Literacy
- From the State Bar of California; provides a basic introduction to the US judicial system; 233KB PDF
Legal Citation Guides
- Basic Legal Citation
- From the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University; introduction to basic legal citation with examples
- Citing Government Information Sources
- From the Univ. of Nevada at Reno; samples of MLA-style citations from various government information sources
Legal Forms & Self-Help
- Federal Forms Catalog for Citizens
- Catalog of forms for filing with federal agencies including tax forms, social security forms,
- California Judicial Council Forms
- From the California Courts; court forms, many available in fillable PDF format
- California Courts Self-Help Center
- Filing instructions and information on family law topics, small claims, traffic court, etc.
- EZLegalFile
- "EZLegalFile is an interactive (free) program that will help you fill out the forms necessary to request or respond to papers for a variety of legal issues."
- I-CAN! Legal
- Free service from the Legal Aid Society of Orange County; "I-CAN! modules create properly formatted pleadings; provide court tours; and educate users on the law and the steps needed to pursue their matter."
- Lawyer/Law Firm Directory from LexisNexis
- Searchable directory of lawyers and law firms
- Nolo Press
- Excellent site for self-help publications available for purchase. McHenry library also has many Nolo books available in print and online.