Primary Law Worldwide:
Full-Text Laws, Regulations, Cases, Treaties

Primary Law Worldwide provides a gateway to full-text primary law for federal, state & local, foreign, and international primary law. It also provides links to sites which arrange legal resources by subject. For additional resources, explore other Web Library links to general law sites, agricultural law sites, environmental law sites, international law sites.

Go to:

Federal -- State [Ark] -- Local

Foreign -- International

Law by Subject

• Supreme Court of the United States. Opinions Oct. 1999-; transcripts of oral arguments Oct. 2000-.
• Supreme Court Collection (Cornell) 1990- and selected older decisions. Access by topic, author, party, or keyword search.
• Supreme Court Opinions (Findlaw) 1893-. Access by volume, year, and keyword search.
• Supreme Court Resources (Findlaw). Dockets, orders, briefs, opinions, topical index, Oct. 1999-.
• Supreme Court Opinions (GPO Access). 1937-1975. Searchable.
• Supreme Court Opinions and Orders (GPO Access). 1992/1993-1999/2000. Choose PDF or text version for 1997/1998-1999/2000. Non searchable.
• LexisOne. Free: U.S. Supreme Court cases, 1790-; federal circuit cases, most recent 5 years; cases from two highest courts of each state, most recent 5 years. Other cases for a fee.
• Federal Courts Finder (Emory) Supreme Court and Federal Courts of Appeal
• Federal Judiciary's Links to Courts (Admin. Office of the U.S. Courts). Federal courts of appeal, district courts, bankruptcy courts, and other federal courts. Many federal district courts and all other federal courts provide opinions, court rules, and/or court forms.
• Search All U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal (Cornell)
• Supreme Court, courts of appeal, district courts, other federal courts: Federal Case Law (Findlaw).
• Pacer (Admin. Office of U.S. Courts). Opinions from many federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. Note: Fee-based.
• Citation services: Shepards (Lexis-Nexis) -- Keycite (Westlaw). Note: Fee-based.
• Slip Opinions Listservers (LLRX) by Kathy Biehl. Subscribe to slip opinions from various federal and state courts by e-mail.
• Court Rules, Forms, and Documents (LLRX). Federal and state courts.
• Oyez Project. Oral orguments and oral transcripts.
• Understanding the Federal Courts (Federal Judiciary)
• History of the Federal Judiciary (Federal Judicial Center)

• U.S. Constitution (Findlaw). Text, annotations, citing cases.
• The Constitution of the United States of America (NARA). Hypertext links to amendments, to biographies of signers, and to the NARA Constitution page.
• Browse or search U.S. Constitution: Analysis and Interpretation: 1992 Edition and 1996 and 1998 Supplements (GPO Access and CRS). Annotations of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 26, 1998.
• The Constitutional Amendment Process (NARA)
• Historical Documents (Thomas). U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention documents 1784-1789, Federalist Papers.
• Core Documents of U.S. Democracy (via GPO Access). Articles of Confederation; Declaration of Independence; U.S. Constitution; early Congressional documents 1774-1873 (House and Senate Journals, debates, Statutes at Large vols. 1-6, selected Serial Set volumes) .
• Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Presidential documents, Congressional record groups, executive agency record groups, federal court record groups.
• U.S. Historic Documents (U. Michigan)
• Historic United States Documents (Emory).
• Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project (U. of Ok. & Nat. Indian Law Lib. of Native Amer. Rights Fund). Current constitutions and historical documents.

• Free versions:
  • USC at House of Representatives: Search -- Home
  • USC at Legal Information Institute (Cornell)
  • USC at GPO Access
  • USC at Findlaw
• Fee-based versions:
  • Loislaw.com (LOIS)
  • VersusLaw
  • United States Code Annotated (USCA): Westlaw.
  • United States Code Service (USCS): Lexis.
• To update the USC, use Slip Laws (GPO Access). See the article below for more information:
• The U.S. Code on the Web by Sally Kelley--features, searching, and updating at the free sites.

• U.S. Public Laws (Slip Laws) 1995- (NARA via GPO Access)
• Bills and public laws 1973- (Thomas). Public Laws 1973- (Thomas). Select by public law number. To search bill and public law text by keyword (1989-present), select Bill Text 1989-. To search bill summaries by keyword or subject headings (1973-present), select Bill Summary & Status 1973-. Provides legislative history (status, floor actions, Congressional Reports, Congressional Record, etc.) for all bills and laws 1973-present; text of all versions of all bills 1989-present; text of public and private laws (enrolled bill version) 1989-; links to GPO Access public laws (slip law version) 1995-.
• How Our Laws Are Made (House) by Charles W. Johnson (Thomas).
• Enactment of a Law (Senate) by Robert B. Dove (Thomas).
• Historical
  • United States Statutes at Large (Library of Congress). Laws, resolutions, treaties, and international agreements 1789-1873. Access by page number or page heading.
  • Bills and Resolutions of the House of Representatives and the Senate (Library of Congress). Most bills and resolutions from the 18th Congress (1823) to the 42nd Congress (1873). Some bills and resolutions from the 13th Congress (1814) to the 17th Congress (1822). Browse by date, number, keyword, and committee.

• Federal Register (NARA via GPO Access). 1994-
• Table of Contents of Today's Federal Register (NARA via GPO Access)
• List of Federal Register Documents on Public Inspection (NARA) and scheduled date of publication.
• Federal Register Indexes (NARA)
• Federal Register Research Tools (NARA). Includes annual indexes 1994- and cumulative index for current year.
• Daily Federal Register Finding Aids and Research Tools Tutorial (NARA)
• The Federal Register: What Is It and How to Use It: An Online Tutorial (NARA)
• Introduction to Laws and Regulations (U.S. EPA)
• Unified Agenda: Regulatory Info. Service Center (GSA) Oct. 1995- & GPO Access 1994-.
• REGINFO.GOV (GSA). Gathers and publishes info. on federal regulations.
• Search Regulatory Information (GPO Access). Choose desired source and year(s): Current CFR, Federal Register 1994-2002, Unified Agenda 1994-2001.

• CFR at National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) via GPO Access
  • Search or Browse Your Choice of CFR Titles. Search or browse individual titles 1996-.
  • LSA (List of CFR Sections Affected). Use this to find new regulations that update a CFR part or section.
  • Retrieve CFR Titles by Citation
  • Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules. Text -- PDF. As of January 1, 2003.
• Quick Guide: Updating a CFR Section on the Web by S. Kelley. How to retrieve a CFR section by citation and identify updating regs at GPO Access.
• CFR at Legal Information Institute (Cornell)
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) (NARA). Beta text site. "The e-CFR prototype is a demonstration project. It is not an official legal edition of the CFR."
• Search Regulatory Information (GPO Access). Choose desired source and year(s): Current CFR, Federal Register 1994-2002, Unified Agenda 1994-2001.
• Fee-based versions: Lexis, Westlaw, Loislaw.com, Versuslaw, and Quicklaw America

• Federal Administrative Decisions (GPO Access). Decisions from the Federal Labor Relations Authority, GAO Comptroller General, Merit Systems Protection Board, Office of Compliance, and National Labor Relations Board.
• Federal Administrative Decisions and Other Actions (U. of Virginia). Administrative decisions, directives, guidance documents, and more, for many federal agencies. Browse alphabetical agency list or use subject index.
• Washlaw Federal Agency Index. Links to opinions, forms, publications, and homepages of many federal agencies.

• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (NARA via GPO Access). 1993-
• White House -- press releases and press briefings Jan. 20, 2001- -- government links
• Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders (NARA). "Proclamations and Executive orders with general applicability and continuing effect. It covers April 13, 1945, through January 20, 1989, spanning the administrations of Harry S. Truman through Ronald Reagan."
• Executive Orders Disposition Tables (NARA). January 9, 1939- . Amendments and status information. Links to full text 1993-. Subject index 1993-.
• Presidential Documents on NARA Web Sites. Executive orders, proclamations, and other presidential documents. Public papers of the presidents. Presidential libraries.
• Clinton Presidential Materials Project (NARA) includes presidential papers from Clinton years ("all White House documents (press briefings, radio addresses, executive orders, and all other publicly released White House publications between January 20, 1993 through January 20,2001") and archives of five versions of Clinton White House web site .

• OMB Circulars (U.S. Office of Management and Budget)
• ABA Administrative Procedure Database
• Other Gateways to U.S. Federal Law: Cornell -- Findlaw -- Washlaw
• Researching Federal Legislative History by Sally Kelley

• StateLaw (Washlaw)
• State Law (Cornell). State constitutions, statutes, regulations, cases, Uniform Commercial Code, other uniform and model codes and corresponding state statutes. (Cornell).
• Nat. Conf. of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. (U. of Penn.) Draft uniform and model acts; final acts.
• State Laws (Scruffy). State constitutions, session laws, codes, administrative law.
• Administrative Codes and Registers (NASS)
• State Court Web Sites (National Center for State Courts)
• State Court Locator (Villanova)
• State Web Locator (Chicago-Kent)
• State Resources (Findlaw)
• LawLink--U.S. State and Local Government Sites (ABANET)
• Court Rules, Forms, Dockets (LLRX)
• American Legal Ethics Library (Cornell LII). "Codes or rules of professional conduct ... state by state."
• Loislaw.com and LOIS for Law Schools. Case law, legislation, administrative law, court rules for most states, including Arkansas. Federal case law. Note: Requires password.

  Arkansas Law:

• Arkansas General Assembly:
  • Constitution of the State of Arkansas of 1874 and amendments.
  • Arkansas Code (Arkansas General Assembly). Keyword searching and hypertext table of contents. Current through 2002.
  • Arkansas 84th General Assembly 2003 (Ark. Gen. Assembly). Acts, bills, status, Senate and House calendars, committee calendars.
  • Arkansas Acts, Bills, and Resolutions of Previous Sessions, 1997-2002. Full-text acts, bills, and resolutions. Also provides batch bill status search for each session.
  • Summaries--2001 Regular Session (Arkansas General Assembly)
  • Legislative Summary--1999 Regular Session (Arkansas General Assembly)
  • Arkansas Legislative Digest. Bill tracking and text. Fee-based.
  • How A Bill Becomes Law (Arkansas General Assembly)
• Arkansas Administrative Law:
  • Arkansas Register. (Ark. Sec. of State). 1998-. Lists new administrative rules and regulations; notices of legislative audit reports; and insurance orders. Attorney general opinions.
  • Regulations on departmental web sites. Some Arkansas departments, agencies, boards, and commissions post their regulations. Examples are Dept. of Environmental Quality, Soil & Water Conservation Commission, Workers' Comp. Commission. Alternative link.
  • Arkansas Regulations on Loislaw.com. A central collection of Arkansas regulations. Fee-based.
  • Code of Arkansas Rules (Weil Pub.) on Lexis-Nexis (file ARADMN--searchable or ARADTC--hypertext table of contents) and Westlaw (file AR-ADC not available through Law School subscription). An unofficial code of Arkansas regulations from Weil Publishing. Fee-based.
  • Ark. Attorney General Opinions. Searchable. 1991-
  • Governor's Policy Directives
• Arkansas Cases:
  • Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Cases (Arkansas Judiciary). Opinions, Sept. 1994-, searchable. Unpublished Sup. Ct. opinions, Dec. 1999-. Unpublished Court of Appeals opinions, Jan. 2000-. Court rule changes.
  • Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Cases (Findlaw). Jan. 1996-.
  • Arkansas Court Rules (Arkansas Judiciary).
• Arkansas Federal Cases:
  • 8th Circuit Appellate. Opinions Nov. 1995-. Circuit rules and model jury instructions. Oral arguments and briefs, 2000-.
  • 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Opinions 1997-. Panel rules.
  • Ark. Eastern District. Docket info., rules, forms, model jury instructions, cases via PACER.
  • Ark. Western District. Cases via PACER, court rules, forms.
  • U.S. Bankrupcty Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Ark. Rules, forms, opinions.
• State of Arkansas
• Other gateways to Arkansas law: Cornell -- Findlaw -- American Law Sources Online -- Washlaw

• Codes of Ordinances (American Legal Pub.)
• County Codes and Ordinances (NACo)
• Court Web Sites (NCSC). Includes municipal and county courts.
• Municipal Code Corporation (MCC)
• Municipal Codes on the Internet (GeneralCode)
• Municipal Codes Online (Seattle Public Library)
• Arkansas City and County Codes
  • Arkansas Municipal Codes from American Legal Pub. Sebastian County and Cabot.
  • Arkansas Municipal Codes from MCC. Eureka Springs, Fort Smith, Little Rock, Maumelle, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff, Rogers, Siloam Springs.
  • Code of Ordinances--County of Washington, Arkansas (MCC)
  • Fayetteville, AR, City Code. Only Title XV so far.

• NCALRI subject pages:
  • Agricultural Law
  • Agricultural Law Topics
  • Environmental Law: U.S. -- International
  • International Law (General, Trade, Business, EU)
  • Foreign and International Primary Law. Foreign laws and cases, treaties, international cases.
• Legal resources organized by subject with substantial international materials:
  • CataLaw
  • Findlaw: Legal Subject Index
  • Hieros Gamos' Areas of Practice
  • Private International Law (U.S. State Dept.). U.S. treaties, other international instruments, and information on the private international law of such areas as trade and commerce, finance and banking, family and child law, trusts and estates, and international judicial assistance.
  • Public International Law Topics (Francis Auburn)
  • Washlaw Topical Index (Washburn)
  • World Legal Information Institute Subject Indexes (WorldLII). Very extensive.
  • WWW Virtual Law Library by Topical Listing (Indiana U.)
  • Subject Guide to International and Comparative Law (JURIST)
• Legal resources organized by subject with U.S. emphasis:
  • American Law by Subject (U. Chicago)
  • Law about ... (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
  • Findlaw Library
  • Findlaw Professionals
  • Guide to Law Online: U.S.: Specific Fields (Library of Congress)
  • Katsuey Kat's Legal Links
  • Law Arranged by Subject (U. Mont.)
  • Law by Subject (Emory)
  • Law Guides (Jurist)
  • Megalaw.com
• Specific type of legal material by topic:
  • Major U.S. Legislation by Topic: 106th Congress (1999-2000) -- 105th Congress (1997-98) -- 104th Congress (1995-96)
  • Law Journals by Subject (Findlaw)
  • State Statutes by Subject (Cornell)
• Additional resources:
  • Search Web (NCALRI). General, legal, government, agriculture search engines.
  • Libraries Around the World (NCALRI). U. Ark., law, government, ag. libraries and gateways to libraries of all kinds around the world.

• World Legal Information Institute Legislation -- Courts & Case Law
• Foreign Law (U. of Chicago)
• Foreign Primary Law on the Web (Mulligan, Liu, U. Houston)
• Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) (Law Library of Congress). Laws and regulations of member nations. Full-text in official language. English summaries.
• GlobalCourts: Supreme Court Decisions Around the World. Supreme Court decisions of 95 countries.
• Governments on the WWW: Law Courts
• Guide to Law Online: Nations of the World (Law Library of Congress)
• Law from Around the World (Cornell)
• Law of Other Countries (Emory)
• World Law Guide Legislation -- Cases (Lexadin)
• Constitution Finder (U. of Richmond). Consititutions, charters, amendments, and related documents from countries around the world.
• Constitutions of the World A-Z (Charter88)
• Constitutions of the World (Wiretap Gopher)
• Trade and Environment Database. Analysis--not text--of cases.
• Summary of Environmental Law in North America (CEC). For each topic, provides summaries of the law for Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.
• Environmental Law and Cases Around the World (NCALRI)
• International Agricultural Law (NCALRI)
• European Union (EUR-Lex). Legislation and Cases.
• European Union (NCALRI)

• Tufts Multilaterals Project
• Treaties and International Agreement (Austlii).
• United Nations Treaties Series (UNTS). Offers: 1)Treaties and international agreements registered or filed and recorded with and published by the Secretariat 1946 to Dec. 1992; search treaties by date, parties, subject terms, and/or registration number. 2) Text of recently deposited multilateral treaties not yet published in UNTS. 3) Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with U.N. Secretary General; gives date in force, signatories, ratifications, declarations, reservations. Subscription required.
• 25 Core U.N. Treaties (UN)
• From the U.S. State Dept.: Treaties in Force: A List of Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States in Force as of January 1, 2000. Update with more recent Treaty Actions.
• Senate Treaty Documents (GPO Access) 1995-. These are unratified treaties sent by the President to the Senate to undergo the ratification process. Presidential messages are included.
• Treaty Legislative Status and Text (Thomas). Legislative status and history for treaties submitted to the Senate 1949-present. Early Years are not complete. Links to full-text of Senate Treaty Documents at GPO for 1995-present. Link to GPO search page for keyword search of Senate Treaty Documents 1995-present.
• Executive Reports (GPO Access) 1995-. Senate Executive Reports contain committee recommendations on the ratification of a proposed treaty (or recommendations on a nomination).
• Treaties and International Agreements Online (Oceanalaw). U.S. treaties and international agreements 1983-. Also, Senate treaty documents and multilateral tax treaties. Full-text documents and an index with 11 search fields are fee-based. Another index with four search fields is free. (U.Ark.)
• Private International Law (U.S. State Dept.). U.S. treaties, other international instruments, and information on the private international law of such areas as trade and commerce, finance and banking, family and child law, trusts and estates, and international judicial assistance.
• Hague Conventions on Private International Law.
• UNCITRAL Conventions, Model Laws, Other Texts, Ratifications and Enactments, Preparatory Documents, Abstracts of Cases (UN Commission on International Trade Law)
• International Trade Instruments: Treaties, Conventions, Model Laws, Rules: chronologically -- by subject (Lex Mercatoria).
• Agreements Negotiated by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
• Trade & Related Agreements (U.S. Dept of Commerce Trade Compliance Center). Texts of most trade agreements to which the United States is a party and related documents important to business. By title, issue, industry, and country signatory.
• Selected International Treaties and Agreements (InfoUSA, U.S. State Dept.). Trade agreements and treaties; intellectual property rights agreements.
• CIB Trade Agreements Database and Archives (Dartmouth)
• Environmental Treaties (NCALRI)
• Law of the Sea Documents (UN)
• European Union (EUR-Lex). Treaties and other instruments.
• Council of Europe Treaties. The search page provides a complete list of treaties and a listing by subjects. Search by ETS Number, abridged title, party, keyword, declaration, or reservation.
• Louis-Jacques, Lyonette. Fundamentals of Treaty Research: U.S. and Non-U.S. (Electronic) Sources (U. Chicago).
• Watson, Jill McC. ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Treaties. (American Society of International Law).
• Kelley, Sally J. Public International Law Research Guide (NCALRI, U. Ark.). See treaties sections.

• International Court of Justice (ICJ) via Cornell. All contentious and advisory opinions referred to the Court since 1946.
• CISG Cases (Pace). Case law from all Contracting Partners to CISG.
• Case Law on CISG (U. of Freiburg). Case law from Germany 1991-. All cases from CLOUT (Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts) from any jurisdiction. Selected case law from neighboring jurisdictions.
• European Court of Human Rights
• Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PiCT). Links to international courts, tribunals, dispute settlement bodies. Case law for many of them.
• International Courts & Tribunals (AustLII)
• International Courts and Tribunals (ASIL)

• Public International Law Research Guide (NCALRI, U. Ark.) by Sally J. Kelley. Documentation of IGOs section. Examples: WTO and NAFTA dispute resolution decisions; UN and OAS resolutions; IGO treaties.
• Governments on the WWW: Multi-Governmental Organizations
• More IGOs (NCALRI)