About the FCIL Collection

The Law Library's collection of foreign, comparative, and international law is one of the largest in bound volume and volume equivalents (digital materials and microform) and most comprehensive collection in the United States. This collection features thousands of primary and secondary resources, as well as extensive offerings in interdisciplinary and cross-cultural studies. The Law Library subscribes to over 1,500 English language and vernacular scholarly journals and series concentrating on foreign, comparative, and international law in print and online. More About the FCIL Collection.

Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Research

Foreign, Comparative, and International Law (FCIL) poses all sorts of challenges for U.S. law students and practitioners. Foreign and comparative legal issues involve the law of other jurisdictions or types of foreign law (e.g., domestic relations law; tax law; criminal law) compared across foreign jurisdictions. International law is the law of relationships between and among nations, international organizations (e.g., the United Nations; the World Trade Organization), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). FCIL terminology gets even more confusing when “international law” (the common law usage) gets broken down into “public international law” (civil law argot for international law) and “private international law” (the civil law usage for the U.S. concepts of “choice of law” or “conflict of law”).

To meet the challenges of FCIL research, the Law Library offers its patrons a vast array of resources, including one of the largest academic FCIL collections in the United States, as well FCIL legal research courses and specialized FCIL research consultations.

Research Consultations

If you would like to schedule a research consultation contact Don Ford, Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Librarian, at 319-335-9068 or donald-ford@uiowa.edu.