LibGuides: Foreign Law by Jurisdiction: Germany

German Law Databases

Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court)
Also available in English.
Center for German Legal Information
CGerLI is the gateway to German law in English. This website offers a comprehensive and freely accessible database of electronic materials on German law. It brings together English translations of court decisions, legislation, articles and other law-related documents.
Civil Code, Gesetze im Internet
The official translation of Books 1 and 2. The German Federal Ministry of Justice has commissioned a translation of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (or BGB), the Civil Code of Germany.
Code of Civil Procedure, Gesetze im Internet
Unofficial English translation.
Criminal Code, Gesetze im Internet
Unofficial English translation.
Das Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Official Gazette)
Part I is free. Part II is free after registration.
Foreign Law Translations
Multi-jurisdictional site for English translations of legal primary sources, including coverage of Germany. Materials come from the fields of constitutional, administrative, contract and tort law. Translated decisions come from the Reichsgericht, the Bundesverfassungsgericht and the Bundesgerichtshof.
Gesamtkatalog Bundesgerichtshof - Bundesverfassungsgericht
Gesetze im Internet, Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection
Unofficial, free texts of almost all federal law, including the Penal code (Stgb), the Civil code (BGB) Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, etc. Click Aktualitätendienst for a list of recent amendments.
Global-Regulation
Contains machine-produced English translations of the legislation of Germany. Warning: Machine-based translations should not be relied upon in important documents and writings.
Institute for Transnational Law - Foreign Law Translations
Includes English translations of legal materials in the fields of constitutional, administrative, contract and tort law.
JURIS
Das Juristische Information system fur die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (The official database of Germany). Laws, codes, cases, articles.
KVK - Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog
Catalog for finding books and full-text articles that cross searches over all German-speaking jurisdictions.
Legislationline, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Contains English translations of Germany's constitution, criminal code, code of criminal procedure, and variety of human rights oriented legislation.
The Parliament Database: Der Parlamentsspiegel
Contains a great number of primary legal resources. One resource is the Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt). Contains Federal and State legislation including preparatory documents. To find full text materials, go to "Dokumente" and "Bund." From the drop down menu Institution select "Bundesregierung" and from the Gesetzblatt menu select the publication you are looking for (Ex. Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I). Enter the year in the field for Jahr (year). You will get a list of issues; click on the page number you want, and get the document.
RIA Worldwide Tax and Commercial Law
Use the 'Table of Contents' tab to navigate to this title. Countries arranged in alphabetic order. Includes the full text of the tax and commercial law of Germany in English.
RWS Verlag
Der Juristische Fachverlag für Praktiker. Recent Supreme Court cases and other courts cases.
Tax laws "Steuerrecht im Internet"
A directory of German tax sites and international tax sites; information on the taxation of electronic commerce and US-German tax materials (US tax glossary, USA - Germany tax treaties).
Transpatent
Germany database on patent law.
Unofficial English translations of selected codes, Gesetze im Internet
Virtual Law Library at the University of Saarbrücken
A comprehensive site available in German, English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese. Court reports in German are selective. Links to Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG, Federal Administrative Court, Federal Supreme Court (the full texts of the decisions of the Bundesgerichtshof are now online in PDF format starting from 1 January 2000), European Court of Justice. Contains pagination to the official court document and some head notes in English.
ZPO Zivilprozessordnung, Gesetze im Internet
Code of Civil Procedure, in German.

German Law Research Guides

German Law Research, Harvard Law School Library by Jennifer Allison

German Business and Commercial Laws: Guide to Translations into English and Select Auxiliary Sources, GlobaLex by Martina Kammer, Anne Scharrenberg and Dr. Sebastian Omlor

Legal Research in Germany between Print and Electronic Media: An Overview, GlobaLex by Martina Kammer, Anne Scharrenberg and Dr. Sebastian Omlor

German Law Archives

German Law Archive at the The Comparative Law Society.
This site is dedicated to publishing cases, statutes, literature and bibliographies on German law in English. Judgments and other decisions by German courts; Statutes: Acts of Parliament and statutory instruments; Literature on German law.

Document Supply Services and Libraries:
Subito-Library Delivery Service
For articles and books. Some documents can be delivered via email.
Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog
Offers a powerful search engine for library catalogs.

German Law in the Library

Materials will be located in B2 North (map), with call numbers beginning with KK.