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 AU Library Subject guides Law

Subject guide for Law

On this page, you will find selected resources within the field of law. If you need any assistance or if you have any suggestions to the page, please do not hesitate to contact the liaison librarians.

Danish resources - Legislative work

In the legislative work you will find introduced bills with explanatory notes. You can also find legislative work in the form of commission reports. Click below to see where you can find legislative work.

See links to Danish resources - Legislative work

Danish resources - Judgments

Danish court rulings can be found in a number of different databases and portals, depending on the case type. Click below to see where you can find different types of court rulings.

See Danish resources - Judgments

  • Karnovs lovsamling (only in Danish)
    Here you can find the current Danish legislation with annotations. You can also find decisions and references to literature within the field of law, and statements from the Ombudsman of the Danish Parliament etc. Furthermore there are access to several Danish law journals. 
    NB: No remote access to Karnov. However, as a student at Aarhus University you can access Karnov from home by registering via this link.
  • Ankestyrelsens principmeddelelser (only in Danish)
    Statements of principle from the National Board of Appeal are a binding source of law in anonymised form as the municipalities and others. apply to decisions in similar cases.
  • Anklagemyndighedens vidensbase (only in Danish)
    On this page you will find selected Danish judgements within the field of criminal law, an overview of punishment and crime concerning narcotics and fraud and The Public Prosecutors notices. More on how to search the database
  • Arbejdsretsportalen (only in Danish)
    This portal contains the main part of the judgments passed by Arbejdsretten (the Labour court), technical arbitration awards from the private area and employment judgments. All judgments and orders can be found as full text with an abstract. The portal also contains a comprehensive section of laws and rules, and selected literature.
  • ED-lovportalen (only in Danish)
    The portal provides access to Danish tenancy and property law and adjacent areas of law, the corresponding administrative regulations and judgments and decisions. Also contains valid (as amended to date) and historical legislation and future legislative changes etc.. Provides access to the Landowners Judgment Collection from 1988, Administrative decisions from 1998, the journal Huset Jura from 1998, and textbooks on tenancy and property law.  
  • The Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman (in Danish and English – only some publications are in English)
    Reports of the ombudsman of the Danish Parliament.
  • Domsdatabasen (in Danish)
    The Courts of Denmark (Danmarks Domstole) have developed the Judgment Database (Domsdatabasen), where you can search and find judgments handed down by the courts. You can find pseudonymous judgments from the Supreme Court, the High Courts, the Maritime and Commercial Court and in some cases also the city courts.
    Note that the database was launched in January 2022 and so far there is only a small selection. The database is being expanded on an ongoing basis.

Danish resources - Laws

You can find Danish laws in different ways, depending on the setup you need. Find them with annotations, in clean form, or organized in subjects. Click below to see the different options.

See Danish resources - Laws

  • Karnovs lovsamling (only in Danish)
    Here you can find the current Danish legislation with annotations. You can also find decisions and references to literature within the field of law, and statements from the Ombudsman of the Danish Parliament etc. Furthermore there are access to several Danish law journals. 
    NB: No remote access to Karnov. However, as a student at Aarhus University you can access Karnov from home by registering via this link.
  • Lovtidende (only in Danish)
    The Danish laws are announced in Lovtidende. To have entered into force, Danish laws must be published in Lovtidende.
  • Retsinformation (only in Danish)
    Retsinformation gives access to current laws, historical laws and announcements, circulars, decrees, the Danish Parliament’s documents and the reports of the ombudsman of the Danish Parliament. It covers 1985-86 and forward. 
    It does not contain legislation that solely concerns Greenland or the Faroe Islands.
  • Folketingstidende (Report of plenary proceedings in the Danish Parliament)
    The Office of the Folketing Hansard writes and publishes the official report of the plenary proceedings in the Folketing and has been doing so since the abolishment of the absolute monarchy in 1850.
  • Folketinget/The Danish Parliament (in Danish and English - more detailed in Danish)
    This website provides access to all documents concerning the work of the Danish Parliament. It includes bills, proposals for resolution, documents, requests, secretary reports, committee documents, reports concerning the committees, the elections, minutes etc. Coverage of parliamentary years see the web-archive.
  • Arbejdsretsportalen (only in Danish)
    This portal contains the main part of the judgments passed by Arbejdsretten (the Labour court), technical arbitration awards from the private area and employment judgments. All judgments and orders can be found as full text with an abstract. The portal also contains a comprehensive section of laws and rules, and selected literature.
  • ED-lovportalen (only in Danish)
    The portal provides access to Danish tenancy and property law and adjacent areas of law, the corresponding administrative regulations and judgments and decisions. Also contains valid (as amended to date) and historical legislation and future legislative changes etc.. Provides access to the Landowners Judgment Collection from 1988, Administrative decisions from 1998, the journal Huset Jura from 1998, and textbooks on tenancy and property law.

Articles

Find research publications, and articles within the field of law. Click below to see some of the most relevant databases and journals.

See articles

Danish

International

  • Beck-online
    The database contains the following types of information, related to German law: Journals, journal articles, books, commentaries, legislation and case law.
    Search guidelines can be seen under the box "Help" in the red navigation bar.
    Select "beck-online premium" under "Unser beck-online". There is off-campus access to the database.
  • Heinonline
    This is a database where you among others can find international law journals in full text.
  • KluwerArbitration (in English)
    This site provides access to international arbitration research. It includes both commentary from expert authors and primary source materials. Sources are in full text.
  • Kluwer Law Online (in English)
    Here you can find international law journals in full text e.g. journals concerning EU-law, tax law and business law. 
  • Scopus (in English)
    Scopus is both an article database and a citation index. It covers all fields.
  • Web of Science - Social Science Citation Index (in English + more)
    Web of Science (WoS) is an article database and a citation index with references to articles within all fields.
    Most content is available in full text.
  • Westlaw (in English)
    This is a comprehensive full text database with British, American and European sources of law. There is also access to sources of law from e.g. Australia and Canada. The website contains a large number of English-language law journals in full text. Access only from campus.

Guides and tools

Find different guides and tools like abbreviation lists, link collections, and legal and linguistic dictionaries. Click below to see more.

See guides and tools

International and foreign resources

Find international and foreign national sources from countries like the US, the UK, and Germany, and courts like the European Court of Human Rights, CISG, and more. Click below to see both these and international article databases.

See international and foreign resources

  • British and Irish Legal Information Institute
    Legal material from i.a. England, Ireland and Scotland. You can find both laws but also judgments from a wide range of courts across the UK.
  • CISG (Contracts for International Sale of Goods) (in English)
    International Commercial Law: Here you can find judgments and articles within CISG.
    You must register to search the database.
  • Congress.gov (in English)
    The official website for U.S. federal legislative information presented by the Library of Congress. The site contains for example bills and laws.
  • European Court of Human Rights  (in English and French)
    Find material about the European Court of Human Rights and the judgments that have been passed by the court. If you want to find a judgment you can use “Search HUDOC case-law”. You can make an advanced search on text, keywords etc.
    European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) also provides you with a “Knowledge sharing site” which is a valuable supplement to the HODOC database. Here you can find knowledge and guides about each article in the convention.
  • GlobaLex (in English)
    Find articles and guides with an international focus. See e.g. how different countries' legal systems work and where to find legal sources from the countries concerned.
  • Scopus (in English)
    Scopus is both an article database and a citation index. It covers all fields.
  • Web of Science - Social Science Citation Index (in English + more)
    Web of Science (WoS) is an article database and a citation index with references to articles within all fields. Most content is available in full text.
  • Westlaw (in English)
    Comprehensive full text database with British, American and European sources of law. Also access to sources of law from e.g. Australia and Canada. The website contains a large number of English-language law journals in full text.

German resources

Nordic resources

Here you can find a selection of law sources, annotations and article bases from Norway and Sweden. For example, you can find links to parliamentary documents, research publications, library catalogues, and more. Click below to see more.

See Nordic resources

Norwegian resources

  • BIBSYS (oria.no) (in English and Norwegian)
    A common catalogue for all Norwegian university libraries, Nasjonalbiblioteket (the national library) and a number of other Norwegian academic and research libraries.
  • DIVA (in English, Swedish and Norwegian)
    Access to Norwegian and Swedish research publications, theses and student papers. 
  • Idunn (only in Norwegian)
    Get access to Nordic journals in full text.
  • Lovdata Pro (in Norwegian – some information is available in English)
    Access to Norwegian laws, statutes, regulations, judgments,Norsk Lovtidend (The Official Legal Gazette), treaties, journals in full text etc.
    Be aware of the fact that the translations of laws are unofficial and may not be updated.
  • NORA (only in Norwegian)
    Norwegian research publications. A bibliographic database with references to academic works in full text (articles, theses, books, chapters in books, reports etc.) from Norwegian universities and other institutions of higher education, institutes for sector research, research councils etc.
  • Norart (in Norwegian and English)
    This is a Norwegian article database. Articles can be ordered through “Order from other libraries”.
  • Regjeringen.no (in Norwegian, English and Sami)
    Access to Norwegian bills and reports where the latter can be published as a regular report or as an Official Norwegian Reports (in Norwegian: Norges offentlige utredninger, NOU).
  • Rettsdata med Norsk Lovkommentar/Norwegian law comments (only in Norwegian)
    Find commented Norwegian laws. It is a counterpart to Karnov in Denmark and Sweden. It also contains a number of Norwegian journals with decisions.
  • Stortinget.no
    Information about "Stortinget" (the Norwegian Parliament) and its legislative work, etc.
    You can find an entrance to historical proposals for resolutions and digitized editions of the 1814-2005 parliamentary negotiations (in Norwegian).

Swedish resources

  • DIVA (in English, Swedish and Norwegian)
    Access to Norwegian and Swedish research publications, theses and student papers.
  • Idunn (only in Norwegian)
    Access to Nordic journals in full text.
  • Juridikbok.se
    Find digitized Swedish legal books, which are available to everyone.
  • Karnov - Svensk (only in Swedish)
    At Swedish Karnov you can find Swedish laws and law annotations, preparatory work and  decisions from courts and administrative authorities. In Förfatningar and Propositioner there are references from laws to bills and the other way around. 
  • Lagrummet.se (in English and Swedish – search only possible in Swedish)
    Portal for Swedish public administration legal information. Find legal information from the Government, Riksdagen (the Swedish Parliament), higher courts and government agencies. Find Swedish sources of law including the different types of preparatory work, laws and administrative decisions.
  • Libris (in Swedish and English)
    Swedish bibliographic database. Libris is a joint database for Swedish university and research libraries. Find books, articles, journals, etc. You can order materials through the Royal Danish Library if we do not have the material ourselves.
  • Projekt Runeberg
    Find in Swedish: Statens offentliga utredningar, SOU – back to 1922.
  • Svensk Lovsamling (only in Swedish)
    Notisum AB provides free access to Swedish laws (Svenska Lagsamling, SLS). The collection includes all applicable Swedish laws and regulations (SFS).
  • Sveriges domstolar/Sweden’s courts (only in Swedish)
    Find guiding decisions from several authorities e.g. Högsta domstolen, Hovrätterna, Arbetsdomstolen etc.
  • Sveriges Riksdag/Sweden's Riksdag (in many languages, but most comprehensive in Swedish)
    Find documents and information that enables you to follow passage of parliamentary business from the proposal to the decision-making stage. You can for example find Swedish Government Official Reports (in Swedish: Statens offentliga utredningar, SOU).

EU law

Here you will find sources of law and article bases within the EU area. Click below to see more.

See resources for EU law

  • CURIA (in all of the official EU languages)
    Find judgments from the Court of Justice of the European (1953-). Also opinions of the advocate general can be found (1953-). The documents are in full text.
  • EU-Karnov (only in Danish)
    This site contains information about EU legal aspects within 58 topics and areas of law. Each topic contains an introduction that provides an overview of the area of law, its structure and function. The introductions examine central decisions in the Union treaty. The annotations in EU Karnov contain references to relevant legal acts, judgments and literature.
  • The EU Information Center (in English and Danish – most comprehensive in Danish)
    Denmark’s largest website about the EU. The objective of the website is to answer questions from citizens concerning the European Union. You can find materials about the EU in general as well as the most important documents concerning the EU decision-making process.
  • EUR-LEX (in all of the official EU languages)
    EU portal with common entrance to the treaties, the Official Journal, consolidated legislation, preparatory acts and EU case law.
  • European Sources Online (only in English)
    An online database from which you have access to information on EU e.g. EU legislation, EU institutions and activities, European countries and regions, and international organisations in Europe.
  • Find-eR (in English, French and German)
    A search tool that makes it possible to explore the print and electronic collections of the European Commission Libraries. Available library resources include e-books, full-text articles and databases. Find EU publications and documents from the EU countries’ governments concerning the EU and European integration.
  • PreLex (in all of the official EU languages)
    This database allows you to follow a legislative proposal from the beginning until the final law is adopted. It is possible to see all interventions by the institutions and the bodies involved in the decision-making process.

Legal history

Find sources within legal history and older legislation, e.g. older legal literature, older sources of law, and more. Click below to see more.

See resources for legal history

AI tools for literature searching

AI search tools can supplement your other literature searches, for example at the beginning or the end of your search process. The tools are constantly evolving and often include both free and paid features. The AI tools search through content from open, scientific archives.

See AI search tools and open archives

AI search tools

  • Elicit
    Ask an academic question in ‘Quick search’ and get an answer based on selected sources from the open archive Semantic Scholar. The answer is supplemented by a table with key points from the sources. Requires a free user profile.
  • Perplexity
    Ask an academic question and get an answer based on selected sources. Choose ‘Academic’ and search within academic sources from the open archive Semantic Scholar and the PubMed database. Create a free user profile to make ‘Pro’ or ’Deep Research’ searches.
  • Ask.orkg.org
    Ask an academic question and get an answer based on selected sources from the open archive Core. The answer is supplemented by a table with key points from the sources.
  • Inciteful
    Enter an article title or DOI and get a network of articles that share citations with the entered article. The citation network is based on content from the open archives OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, Crossref, and OpenCitations.
  • ResearchRabbit
    Enter one or more articles or DOIs and get a network of articles that share citations with the entered articles. The citation network is based on content from open archives such as OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar. Requires a free user profile.

Open archives

Open, scientific archives contain titles, abstracts, and sometimes the full text of a large number of articles, working papers, etc. The content in the open archives is not selected in the same way as in established scientific databases, so reflect critically on your search results. You can search the open archives either via an AI search tool or directly in the archive.

  • OpenAlex
    Retrieves data from sources such as PubMed, arXiv, DOAJ, Unpaywall, Zenodo, and ORCID. 
  • Semantic Scholar
    Retrieves data from sources such as PubMed, arXiv, and publishers like Sage, Springer, Wiley, and Taylor & Francis.
  • Lens
    Retrieves data from sources such as PubMed, OpenAlex, Crossref, and Unpaywall.
  • Core
    Collects metadata and, in many cases, the full text of scientific articles.
  • Crossref
    Collaborates with a wide range of publishers and institutions to provide open metadata, e.g., on articles, books, preprints, datasets, etc.

Video guides for resources within law (in Danish)

On the AU Libray, BSS videochannel you can find videos (in Danish) about information searching within law, the legal process, and where and how to find legal documents. Click below to see more.

See video guides

Libraries within your field of study

Liaison librarians

Solveig Sandal Johnsen

Information Specialist
M
H 1342, 275
P +4591356476

Mai Jensen Klærke

Information Specialist
M

Tord Nygreen Neve

Information Specialist
M

P +4591356464

Marianne Tind

Section Manager
M
H 1342, 270
P +4591356471

Good citation practice

  • What is plagiarism and how can you avoid plagiarising? On the webpage Plagiarism for students you can find answers to those questions.
  • How do you refer and make references? In ”Retsdogmatisk forskning i praksis” (in Danish) by Lars Henrik Gam Madsen, you can find examples of how to make notes, references etc.

Course collection

Each semester the library creates semester shelves for materials used in the courses. The materials are intended for copying at the library and cannot be borrowed. Check the library database to see if there should be a circulation copy available.

At AU Library, Bartholins Allé the semester shelves are right across the information desk on the first floor.

An orange label marks the books on Law's semester shelves. To ensure that most students have access to and can use the books, the books can only be used on the first floor at the library.

Master theses from Department of Law

All Master's theses published by the Department of Law are indexed and stored at AU Library, Bartholins Allé (Aarhus BSS).

Classification system within the field of law at AU Library, Bartholins Allé

Revised 29.04.2025
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AU Library