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Law

Legislation

The Legislation collection of the James Hardiman Library is available to all University of Galway students and staff. We hold and/or provide access to Irish, UK, European legislation.

The print legislation collection is located on the podium floor of the Library and is accessible during Library opening times. Print legislation volumes may not be borrowed.

Online legislation is available via a number of specialist websites and law databases on the Library website.

If you have queries about legislation please get in touch with the Law Information office using the details provided above.

The sections below explain our legislation collection in more detail:

 

Primary and Secondary Sources of Law
The primary sources of law are where the laws originate. In Ireland these include:
 
  • the Constitution
  • acts and statutory instruments
  • European treaties
  • case law
 
Secondary sources of law are commentaries on the above, explaining the sources and principles of law. These typically include:
 
  • law books
  • legal journal articles
  • legal encyclopaedias, dictionaries and other reference sources
  • annotated legislation (legislation with detailed explanatory notes)
 

Irish Legislation

Irish Legislation

  • The bound volumes of the Irish acts are available in the Legislation Collection on the Podium floor
  • The more recent bills, acts and statutory instruments are held in the Law Office.
  • We have a run of Bills from 1930-1996 in the basement with explanatory memoranda
  • Recent bills (inc. explanatory memoranda) and acts are also available from the Oireachtas website.
  • The Irish Statute Book provides online access to all Irish acts and Statutory Instruments from 1922- present.
  • The Legisative Directory of Irish Acts 1922-2014 ,which shows acts and subsequent amendments within this period, is also a very useful tool.
  • Justis provides access to pre-independence statutes. A print run of the Acts of the Union is also available.

Annotated/Combined Irish Legislation

  • Annotated legislation such as Irish Current Law Statutes Annotated, Irish Planning Law Factbook are available for consultation in the Law Reference area on the ground floor of the Library. Note: these materials may not be borrowed.
  • Many of these are also available on the WestlawIE database.In addition Consolidated Local Government Acts, Consolidated Company Act, Consolidated Criminal Acts are available on WestlawIE.

 

UK / International Legislation

Northern Ireland Legislation

Nothern Ireland Statutes are available from 1926-2002 in print in the Library. Recent acts including statutory rules are available on the OPSI site.

UK Legislation

  • We hold a print collection of British Statutes from 1801 to 2012.
  • Justis provides access to UK and pre-independence statutes
  • The 1801-1921 statutes are held in the basement and must be requested and consulted in the Special Collections Reading Room.
  • The UK statues from 1926-2012 are available in the Law Reference area.
  • The OPSI site provides links to current UK acts and bills.
  • Justis and WestlawUK provides good access to UK historical and current UK legislative material

European Directives and Regulations

The EurLexdatabase is the main source for EU directives and regulations. WestlawUK is also an excellent resource.  The Official Journal (L&C) in print from 1958-2006 is located in the EDC Collection based on the podium floor of the James Hardiman Library.

International Law

WorldLII's International Treaties Collection
Contains the full texts of over 60,000 treaties (30,000+ from the United Nations collection). They are both multilateral and bilateral from many sources, and from multiple Legal information initiatives (LIIs) from around the world.

Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977:ratifications, accessions and successions (International Humanitarian Law) at the International Committee of the Red Cross. See also the ICRC new customary IHL database . (This is the online version of the 2005 study entitled Customary International Humanitarian Law).

United Nations Treaty Collection Database
Contains the text of international agreements registered with the United Nations and information on the status of the registered treaties

Human Rights Treaties at the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library provides access to one of the largest collections of online human rights materials, including several hundred human rights treaties and other primary international human rights instruments.