Legal Databases

This list includes links to all legal database subscriptions purchased by the library and free legal research sites. For ebooks, please also see a List of Treatises and Loose-Leafs available in WestlawNext and Lexis Advance Quicklaw

As of November 2023: due to recent changes in library IT infrastructure, some of the direct links to eResources below may not work unless you first authenticate as a U of T user. For more information, please see strategies to authenticate as a U of T user on the University of Toronto Libraries site.


AGIS Plus Text (Informit)

Attorney-General's Information Service (AGIS) is Australia's major law journal index (equivalent to Index to Canadian Legal Literature). Coverage from 1975. Includes some full-text material. Select AGIS Plus Text from the filter on the left side of the screen after running a search to access AGIS content.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

American Law Institute Library (HeinOnline)

Contains the Institute's Annual Reports, Proceedings, Annual Meeting Speeches, and the Institute's newsletter, The ALI Reporter. It also includes current and archival Restatements of the Law, Uniform Commercial Code, Model Penal Code, ALI-ABA Periodicals, and the Statement of Essential Human Rights (a pioneering ALI project of the mid-1940s).

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals

This database provides the full text of decisions, including concurring, separate and dissenting opinions from the ICTY, ICTR, The Special Court for Sierra Leone, The International Criminal Tribunal for Timor-Leste and the International Criminal Court. Each case is accompanied by commentary from scholars and experts in international criminal law.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Canadian & Australian Acts of Parliament (HeinOnline)

Contains Acts of the Parliament of Canada (Annual Statutes), 1792-2019; Revised Statutes of Canada, 1886, 1906, 1927, 1952, 1970, and 1985; and Acts of the Parliament of Australia, 1901-2015.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Canadian Bar Review

Journal of the Canadian Bar Association. Open access from volume 1 (1923) to present.

Canadian Privacy Law Review

From July 2005, vol. 2, no. 5. 

Available via e.legal.

Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations

This free database allows you to search for the meaning of abbreviations for English language legal publications, mostly case law reporters, from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the United States.

CanLII

CanLII is a free site that provides access to court judgments from all Canadian courts, federal, provincial, and territorial legislation, and legal commentary.

Child and Family Law Quarterly (Lexis Library)

This UK journal contains essential articles and comment on all aspects of family and child law.

Access via computers at the Faculty of Law and the Bora Laskin Law Library only. Off-campus access available using VPN.

Constitutional Law Direct (Lexis Library)

Provides users with an analysis of the rights contained in the Constitution of South Africa, as well as access to an up-to-date library of South African and international reference material on constitutional law.

Password available via e.legal.

CriminalSource (Westlaw Edge Canada)

Integrates commentary with a comprehensive collection of case law and legislation and includes full-text and case summaries of reported and unreported cases, topical indexes, and a case citator. Includes criminal cases from the Supreme Court of Canada since 1894, a comprehensive collection of reported and unreported decisions since 1977, and all decisions from Canadian Criminal Cases since 1898.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Database of Law Journals Available Electronically and at the Bora Laskin Law Library

This database includes links to all full-text law journals, as well as a list of the library's print holdings.

EmploymentSource (Westlaw Edge Canada)

Includes employment law commentary, case law, administrative tribunal decisions and legislation from all Canadian jurisdictions.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Family Law (Lexis Library)

This database includes the Family Law reports from the United Kingdom from 1869 to present, the Family Procedure Rules and Legislation and Forms.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Foreign and International Law Resources (HeinOnline)

Includes the publications of the American Society of International Law along with prominent Yearbooks from around the world, including the Hague Permanent Court of International Justice series. It also includes U.S. Law Digests, International Tribunals/Judicial Decisions and more. 

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Foreign Law Guide: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World (Brill)

Provides relevant information on sources of foreign law, including complete bibliographic citations to legislation.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Global-Regulation

Global-Regulation provides a searchable database of laws from around the world. It includes over a million laws from 94 countries and over 800,000 laws machine-translated into English.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using VPN.

Health Law in Canada

From Volume 38, no 1 and 2 (November 2017) onwards

Available via e.Legal.

HeinOnline

Features more than 2,800 law-related periodicals, classic legal treatises, and 287,000 titles of historical and government documents including Canadian statutes.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

History of Supreme Court Nominations (HeinOnline)

Covers Supreme Court of the U.S. Hearings and Reports on Successful and Unsuccessful Nominations of Supreme Court Justices by the Senate Judiciary Committee and includes articles, hearings, and other related titles on past and present Supreme Court Justices beginning with the first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay. 

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

IAReporter

Investment Arbitration Reporter (IAReporter) is a database which tracks international investment arbitrations between foreign investors and their host states. The site investigates and reports on public and non-public claims; digests and analyzes jurisprudence and awards (both public and non-public); and offers a vast dataset for empirical international law research.

Access via computers at the Faculty of Law and the Bora Laskin Law Library only.

ICLR.4

Includes extensive coverage of UK case law, including the Law Reports, Weekly Law Reports, Industrial Cases Reports, Business Law Reports, Public and Third Sector Law Reports. Published by the UK's Incorporated Council of Law Reporting.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Immigration Law and Policy in the U.S. (HeinOnline)

Features historical documents and legislation related to immigration in the United States, as well as current hearings, debates and recent developments in immigration law. It also includes BIA Precedent Decisions, legislative histories, law and policy titles, extradition titles, scholarly articles, an extensive bibliography, and other related works.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective: 1908-1981

Database indexes over 750 legal periodicals published in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Content is also drawn from 38 printed compendia, which provides access to approximately 540,000 records. Coverage also includes: annual surveys of laws by jurisdiction; annual surveys of federal court cases; yearbooks and annual institutes.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: History, Culture & Law (HeinOnline)

Extensive collection of over 4,000 titles and 2.3 million pages of content related to Indigenous American law and life. Includes treaties, US statutes and regulations, case law, tribal codes, constitutions, and jurisprudence. Many titles are unique to this collection. 

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Internet and E-Commerce Law in Canada

From September 2005, vol. 6, no. 7.

Available via e.Legal.

Irwin Law eBook Collection

This collection includes  Irwin Law publications, including the Essentials of Canadian Law series. The collection can be searched by author, title or subject.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Phillip C. Jessup Library (HeinOnline)

Includes the Problems, Judges' Briefs, Rules, and leading written memorials which comprise from the Phillip C Jessup moot since 1960. In addition, several publications of ILSA are also available.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Jutastat

Includes digests, case law, legislation, and constitutional resources from South Africa, case law from Namibia, case law from Tanzania, case law from Zambia, and case law and legislation from Zimbabwe.

Password available via e.legal.

LabourSource (Westlaw Edge Canada)

LabourSource includes case law, legislation and commentary on Canadian labour law. Includes Brown and Beatty's Canadian Labour Arbitration, the Labour Arbitration Cases (LAC) and Canadian Labour Arbitration Summaries (CLAS).

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

La Référence

Provides Quebec secondary sources, case law, legislation, including commentary on the Civil Code of Quebec, commentary on civil law decisions, and texts of conferences held by Éditions Yvon Blais. In French.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

LegalTrac

Provides indexing and selective full-text for all major law reviews, law journals, specialty law and bar association journals, and legal newspapers. Offers coverage of federal and state cases, laws and regulations, legal practice and taxation, as well as British Commonwealth, European Union, and international law.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Lexis+ Canada

Contains journals, court and tribunal cases, legislation, commentary, forms, and international cases. Jurisdictions covered include all of Canada, as well as many foreign jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and the United States.

Law students and faculty have their own username and password. Non-law faculty and students can access a campus-wide account here.

Litigator

Available on Westlaw Edge Canada. Contains facta, pleadings, motions, annotated rules of civil procedure, and texts on advocacy, witnesses, and evidence.

Law students and faculty have their own username and password. Non-law faculty and students can access a campus-wide account here.

LLMC

The Law Library Microform Consortium features online versions of their vast collection of government, legislative, legal, and historical documents from the U.S., Canada, UK, and around the world.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926

Covering a vast range of legal history from the beginnings of the modern period to the early twentieth century, this archive is a comprehensive full-text collection of Anglo-American trials. Offers access to unofficially published accounts of trials, briefs, arguments and other trial documents.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926

Includes the fully searchable, full-text of more than 21,000 secondary sources from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The material from the British Commonwealth and the United States includes casebooks, local practice manuals, books on legal form, works for lay readers, pamphlets, letters, and speeches.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law, 1600-1926

Includes pre-1926 treatises and similar monographs, in the following areas: International Law; Comparative Law; Foreign Law; Roman Law; Islamic Law; Jewish Law; and Ancient Law.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, 1600-1970

This collection consists of historical legal codes, statutes, regulations, and commentaries on codes from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and other countries in northern Europe. Included are crucial sources of historical statutes and regulations for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. 

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources

Part I, 1620-1926: Contains more than 1,300 individual titles consisting of about 2,225 volumes sourced chiefly from the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale University, with additional materials provided by the Law Library of Congress. Its 1.8 million pages span over 300 years of legal primary sources, such as early U.S. state codes, municipal codes, constitutional conventions and compilations, and other documents.

Part II, 1763-1970: Contains more than 1.6 million newly scanned pages drawn from the Harvard Law School Library, the Yale Law Library, and the Law Library of Congress. Comprised of United States codes, constitutional conventions and compilations, and municipal codes, Part II enhances scholarly access to essential documents in American legal history and is fully cross-searchable with Primary Sources, Part I.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Manupatra

Provides full-text searchable access to judgments from the Indian Supreme and High Courts, Indian State courts, as well as orders from tribunals and commissions from 1950. Also includes legislation and commentary.

Password available via e.legal.

Maori Law Review

Full-text online from 1993, vol. 1.

Password available via e.legal.

Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law (MPECCoL)

This online encyclopedia of analytical comparative articles offers a global overview of constitutional law in a comparative context. The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law provides, encyclopedia articles, commentaries, instruments, and constitutional law books from Oxford Constitutions of the World and US Constitutional Law, as well as through reference pages on the Oxford Law Citator.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL)

A comprehensive online resource containing peer-reviewed articles on every aspect of public international law. Published in partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law,

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Medico-Legal Reporter

From January 2014, vol. 15, no. 5 to December 2015, vol 17, no. 4.

Available via e.legal.

O'Brien's Encyclopedia of Forms and Precedents (WestlawEdge Canada)

Searchable and browsable database of legal forms and precedents in Word format.

Law students and faculty can access O'Brien's using their WestlawEdge Canada username and password. 

Oxford Academic: Law

Publications range from the foundations of legal history and philosophy to analytic and comparative work on legal doctrine and empirical research on law in modern society. Included are Oxford Studies in European Law, Oxford Monographs in International Law, Oxford Monographs in Criminal Law and Justice, and more.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Oxford Constitutions of the World

Contains fully-translated English-language versions of all the world's constitutions (both national and sub-national), accompanied by individual commentaries, supplementary materials, including foundation documents, historical constitutions, and amendment Acts/laws.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History

This encyclopedia is a comprehensive, international, interdisciplinary reference work that includes approximately 1,000 articles on all aspects of legal history throughout the world from ancient to modern times. Articles deal with private law, public law, and constitutional/higher law throughout the world and are written and signed by one of the many noteworthy contributors, which include major scholars and experts. The Encyclopedia provides historical and contemporary comparisons of world legal systems.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Oxford Investment Claims

Includes a number of different types of content: Arbitral awards, Arbitral decisions, OPIC decisions, Court decisions, Books, Journal and yearbook articles, Investment treaty overviews, National legislation, Multilateral and bilateral investment treaties, Arbitral rules, relevant Guidelines and Conventions.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Oxford Public International Law (OPIL) 

Oxford Public International Law (OPIL) provides single-point access to Oxford Reports on International Law, the Max Planck Encyclopedias of International Law, Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law, and Oxford International Organizations.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Oxford Reports on International Law

Oxford Reports on International Law provides coverage of international case law from international courts and tribunals, domestic courts and ad hoc tribunals and includes the Oxford Law Citator, which maps relationships between decisions, instruments, and commentary.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law

Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law contains full-text online editions of leading reference works and treatises published by Oxford University Press, such as Oppenheim, and the Oxford Commentaries on International Law. Includes: 

    • Authoritative treatises, which continue to define their area of law
    • Black-letter reference works and commentaries, which will help you to answer practical questions about the law
    • Classic works on international law, which remain influential in their field today
    • Flagship publications, which provide innovative perspectives on current legal problems

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

 ProView

ProView is a database of online loose-leafs to which the Library subscribes and includes titles on constitutional law, criminal law, commercial law, and more. See the list of individual ProView titles to which the library subscribes.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Provincial Statutes of Canada (HeinOnline)

Contains public and private acts passed by Canadian provincial governments. Current, revised, and historical content is available for Alberta, British Colombia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. Historical and revised content only is available for Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Selden Society Publications and the History of Early English Law (HeinOnline) 

Contains manuscripts, cases and plea rolls online of Early English Law dating back to A.D. 1066. Includes the Selden Society Annual Series Vols. 1-117 (1887-2000), the Supplementary Series Vols. 1-13 (1965-2000), and the Centenary Guide to the Publications of the Selden Society. It also includes the Publications of the Ames Foundation. 

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN)

This free site provides 950,733 research papers from 503,172 researchers in more than 50 disciplines.

SOQUIJ: Recherche juridique

Comprehensive jurisprudence from Québec, mainly in French. Cases are indexed and classified by topic. Large number of full-text decisions, as well as summaries.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Takdin

This site contains thousands of verdicts and abstracts from all courts of law in Israel. The legislation database includes the Israeli Book of Law and the Book of Regulations - as published, draft laws and abstracts editions.

Access via computers at the Faculty of Law and the Bora Laskin Law Library only.

TaxFind (Canadian Tax Foundation)

Database includes journals, conference materials, and other material relating to Canadian taxation.

Password available via e.legal.

U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library (HeinOnline)

This library includes all U.S. treaties, whether currently in-force, expired, or not-yet officially published. This is the world's largest and most complete online collection of U.S. treaties and agreements and includes such prominent collections as the United States Treaties and Other International Agreements set as well as famous sets from Bevans, Miller, Malloy and others.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

The Verdict

Published quarterly, the Verdict is the journal of the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia (TLABC). Full-text online from 2010, Issue 123.

Password available via e.legal.

vLexJustis

vLexJustis' Canadian content includes case law and commentary texts published by Irwin Law. vLexJustis provides comprehensive coverage of primary law for over 14 jurisdictions and selected coverage for dozens more. International content includes current reported and unreported UK cases, including the English Reports, Times Law Reports, UK Statutes, a UK case law citator, the Carilaw collection and more. 

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

Westlaw Edge Canada

Contains journals, court and tribunal cases, legislation, commentary, forms, and international cases. Jurisdictions covered include all of Canada, as well as many foreign jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and the United States.

Law students and faculty have their own username and password. Non-law faculty and students can access a campus-wide account here.

World Constitutions Illustrated: Contemporary and Historical Documents and Resources (HeinOnline)

Contains the current constitution for every country, constitutional histories, texts on constitutional law, links to scholarly articles about constitutional development, and a bibliography of selected constitutional books. Browsable by country or resource.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

WorldTradeLaw.net: Dispute Settlement Commentary Service

The Dispute Settlement Commentary (DSC) service is a comprehensive legal research tool for WTO dispute settlement. Features include summary/analysis of all reports/arbitrations; up-to-date keyword index; and a database of dispute settlement tables/statistics.

Access via computers at the Faculty of Law and the Bora Laskin Law Library only.

World Trials Library (HeinOnline)

This collection contains famous and important works as John Lawson's American State Trials, Howell's State Trials, Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals, Reports of State Trials and Sixty Famous Cases. In addition to trial transcripts and other critical court documents, this collection includes trial-related resources such as monographs which analyze and debate the decisions of famous trials as well as biographies of many great trial lawyers in history.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.

World Treaty Library (HeinOnline)

This collection includes Rohn, Dumont, Bevans, Martens, League of Nations, United States, and United Nations treaties into one easy-to-use and fully searchable database. Search a comprehensive treaty index by keywords, title, parties, sign date or citation. Also included are hundreds of related treaty publications, scholarly articles, and a bibliography of related publications.

This site can be accessed directly from computers on campus. It is accessible off-campus using a valid UTORid or VPN.