InfoGuides: Core Sources in Middle Eastern and African History: Search Legal and Government Documents

Using Political and Legal Sources

A wide range of primary sources are found in government documents: the hearings and debates of legislative bodies; the official text of laws, regulations and treaties; records of government expenditures and finances; statistical compilations such as census data; investigative reports; scientific data; and many other sources that touch virtually all aspects of society and human endeavor.

What all these sources have in common is that they are published or otherwise made available to the general public by a government for the general public, at government expense or as required by law. They are a government's official “voice.” Government documents are usually housed in separate sections of libraries, and have their own specialized arrangement and finding aids. Many have been digitized and are represented in the resources listed here.

Court decisions and law codes, which are often published by for-profit publishers and are found either in the main library collection or in separate law libraries. Again, resources containing court decisions and codes are also available on thie InfoGuide.

Select Government Sources

United Nations Digital Library
The Digital Library includes UN documents, voting data, speeches, maps, and open access publications. The platform provides access to UN-produced materials in digital format and bibliographic records for print UN documents starting in 1979. System features include linked data between related documentation such as resolutions, meeting records and voting, and refining of searches by UN body, agency or type of document.

United Nations Official Document System (ODS) This link opens in a new window
Covers all types of official UN documentation from 1993 forward, except: press releases, UN sales publications, the UN Treaty Series or information brochures issued by the Department of Public Information. Provides access to the resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 onward.

African National Congress
View current and historical documents of the ANC under the "Documents" tab.
South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission
South Africa: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1962-1989
This collection provides a contemporary record of changing U.S. responses to historical events in South Africa from 1962 to 1989.

African Blue Books, 1821-1953 This link opens in a new window
Collects annual reports on British colonies that provide detailed accounts of the day-to-day concerns and policies of colonial administrators. Include texts, statistics, maps, and illustrations and cover such topics as taxes and duties, military expenditure, civil establishment, legislation and proclamations, population data, import and export statistics, prisons, and meteorological observations.
Republic of New Afrika This link opens in a new window
Chronicles the activities of Republic of New Afrika national and local leaders, power struggles within the organization, its growing militancy, and its affiliations with other Black militant organizations. Provides documentation collected by the FBI through intelligence activities, informants, surveillance, and cooperation with local police departments.

HeinOnline: World Constitutions Illustrated
Includes current and historical constitutions from around the world in English translation.

Legal Collections

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Image-based legal research database includes such collections as: Legal Classics, Law Journal Library, U.S. Supreme Court Library, U.S. Federal Legislative History Library, Treaties and Agreements Library and more. Bridges the gap in legal history by providing comprehensive coverage from inception of law and law-related periodicals.

HeinOnline: World Trials Library
Trial transcripts, critical court documents, monographs which analyze and debate the decisions of famous trials. and biographies of many of the greatest trial lawyers in history.
Making of Modern Law: Foreign Comparative International
The Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law, 1600-1926, gives any library the kind of historical resources previously found only at the largest and oldest repositories and gives even the most extensive libraries online access to foreign and international legal literature . FCIL includes pre-1926 treatises and similar monographs, sourced from the collections of the Yale, George Washington University, and Columbia law libraries, in the following areas: International Law; Comparative Law; Foreign Law; Roman Law; Islamic Law; Jewish Law; and Ancient Law.