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Note to Readers: This is a re-publication of an article
previously submitted on 12/1. This version includes
a "Note," at the very end of the article, identifying
some limitations of I.lex with respect to document retrieval.


If you're looking for landmark international law cases decided in US Courts, you may want to take a look at i.Lex, a database created by the American Society of International Law (ASIL).

i.Lex features important US state and federal court cases designed to help researchers “identify and understand how international law is interpreted and applied by U.S. courts at both the federal and state level.”

The database also includes access to selected other materials,  including texts of international treaties, domestic statutes, implementing legislation, and decisions by international courts and tribunals.

Materials in  i.Lex date from the 1990's to the present day. Some of the topics covered include human rights, refugees and international law, diplomatic and consular relations, transportation, and international trade.

Opinions are available in pdf*, and are searchable by keyword, topic, court, treaty or statute.

In situations where the full text of decisions are not available,  i.Lex offers case summaries, as well as a brief analysis of the decision.

*Note: Though full-text documents are in pdf, they are not page scanned images. In addition, at this time, documents cannot be downloaded, either in PDF or in any other format.  Finally, in some instances, documents (eg certain decisions or treaties) contain no citations to any official source.


Submitted by Sunil Rao, on December 15, 2011

This article appears in the categories: Law Library

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