Targeted legal research online – a case study

The Institute of Comparative Law provides expert, focused and reliable information on foreign regulations and case law to government institutions, legal practitioners and academics. In order to obtain up-to-date and reliable information, its researchers use the internet as a valuable tool, but also face a number of challenges, including limited access to specialized legal databases. In legal research, the fact that national legislation and case laws, as a rule, are not translated into foreign languages presents a particular challenge. Using a comparative study on restrictions for foreigners to acquire rights on immovables, conducted in August 2015, covering eight European states, the authors will show how they overcame this challenge and adjusted the research methodology to available resources. Finally, the authors will formulate recommendations aimed at improving access to key pieces of translated national legislation online, which can help promote national legislative solutions as best practice examples at the European and global level.