Legal e-sources | Finding aid

Legislation, jurisprudence, and legal doctrine are spread across numerous online databases and (official government) websites. When searching for this information, a guide comes in very handy.

Classification Codes Directions

Discovery Service | Possibilities & limitations

Databases | Jura, Strada lex & LexNow

E-sources & Government websites | Belgium

E-sources | Europe & International

The literature references in recent review articles and standard works are often an excellent starting point for more thorough research. They form a first structured guide, making the potentially overwhelming abundance of information less daunting.

Many books and journals can be consulted online via our Discovery Service, the A-to-Z list of e-journals and e-books, and specialized legal databases. Government websites provide access to data on legislation, jurisprudence, and legal scholarship.

In the Law Library, you will also find a comprehensive physical collection (see: Directions) that is fully aligned with the evolving information needs of students, researchers, lawyers, magistrates, and other actors from the legal field.

UHasselt Discovery Service | Possibilities and limitations

UHasselt Discovery Service

Through the UHasselt Discovery Service, you can find thousands of books and journal articles that you can immediately consult online.

You can also easily see which paper books and journals are available in the Campus Library and Law Library Limburg. Select the 'Library Catalog UHasselt | RBL' option in the filter list.
Using the filter list to the right of the results, you can refine your search results by type (books, journal articles...), discipline (law), keyword, and publication date.
- These guidelines show you how to search for a physical book or journal using the catalog and locate it in the library.
- In this overview, you will find the main categories and classification codes of the book collection. You can check which books are available in each classification code.
- Using the Directions, you can easily find out which books and journals are physically available and where they are located.

A-to-Z list

Are you looking for a specific e-book or online magazine from the UHasselt collection, or do you want to check what is available in our collection? The overview of e-journals and e-books is a useful tool that allows you to navigate to the publications you need.

With the 'Browse by Subject' option, you can explore various legal subdomains.
With 'Browse by Title', you can easily find the book or magazine you are looking for and check if you have access to a specific title via the University Library.
Please note! You cannot search here for the titles of book chapters or articles, only for the title of complete books and magazines.

Note: Extensive databases such as Jura, Strada lex and LexNow provide access to many legal books and magazines that were not disclosed through the A-to-Z list. It is therefore advisable to check if the publication you are looking for is available via one of these platforms.

What can you find in the Discovery Service?

The paper books and journals available in the Law Library. These details can also be accessed via the classic library catalogue.
Large collections of books and journals with numerous publications in the field of legislation, jurisprudence, and legal theory: Ebook Central | Sage Premier | Springer e-Books | Wolters-Kluwer Digital Book Platform.
Publications from researchers affiliated with our university. These details can also be accessed via the Document Server@UHasselt.
Results from the following databases:
- EUR-Lex: legislation of the European Union;
- HeinOnline: access to more than 3000 legal journals;
- LegalSource: access to the most respected scholarly legal journals.

Legal e-sources | Available through Discovery Service

What is not available in the Discovery Service?

Legislation and legal theory are primarily made available on the internet through the official websites of (national) governments and specialized publications, which can only be accessed (online) through (paid or unpaid) databases.
These important sources are generally not searchable with the Discovery Service. This is especially true for databases associated with Belgian legal publishers (Jura, Strada lex, and LexNow) that focus on Belgian law. Therefore, there is a risk of overlooking crucial information and recent developments.
You will need to navigate through a maze of legal databases and websites. For new users, it is often unclear where to find which information. Once you understand this well, you are well on your way.

Legal e-sources | Not available through Discovery Service

Legal databases in Belgium | Jura, Strada lex and LexNow

The databases Jura and Strada lex have become indispensable for legal professionals in Belgium. Following the dissolution of Jurisquare in 2024, many legal publishers moved their content to the relatively recent platform LexNow, thereby increasing its significance.

Each database allows you to examine Belgian legislation, jurisprudence (judgments and decisions from various courts), and scholarly publications (legal theory). However, each is linked to one or more legal publishers, which means they all have unique content. This is especially true for searchable judgments and decisions and the range of scholarly publications, even more so than for legislative overviews.
Additionally, they distinguish themselves in the complex field of legal information provision through their own functionalities and advantages.
To get a complete answer to your (research) question, you will need to search the three platforms separately.

	Jura (Wolters Kluwer)	Strada lex (Larcier-Intersentia)	LexNow (Anthemis, die Keure, LeA, Boom Juridisch, Politeia, Story)
Content	All consolidated legislation relevant to Belgium (Belgian and international, > 170,000 documents) accessible via "Information Type > Legislation" in the left navigation menu. Case law, with practical summaries of judgments and decisions. Focus on the Court of Cassation, Constitutional Court, Court of Justice, and case law published in Belgian journals (> 230,000 documents) accessible via "Information Type > Case Law" in the left navigation menu. Templates on procedure, corporate law, and contracts accessible via "Information Type > Templates" in the left navigation menu. Daily screening of the Belgian Official Gazette. The full text of various Kluwer inserts (including article-by-article comments). The full text of case law and legal doctrine from Kluwer books and journals, and references to case law and legal doctrine in other journals accessible via "Overview of publications > Journals \| Books" in the left navigation menu. Overview of the journals (about 45) and books (> 600).	Access to over 30 official sources, mainly concerning legislation, but also includes Belgian and international case law and legal doctrine such as the Belgian Official Gazette, Fisconetplus... Coordinated legislation in English, French, and Dutch, including the Larcier codes and specialized law books. An online version of the *Répertoire Notarial. Predominantly French-language* journals (summaries or full text from more than 250 separate journals) and books (over 3500 separate titles) published by Bruylant, Larcier, and Intersentia.	Legislation: Belgian legislation (> 200,000 documents); Case law: including the Council of State, Court of Cassation, Court of Appeal, Labor Court, Court of First Instance, Privacy Commission, Court of Justice of the European Union, European Commission of Human Rights (> 400,000 documents); Legal doctrine from books and journals (> 60,000 documents); Via LexNow (under the 'Library' tab), you have access to publications from legal publishers such as Anthemis, Anthemis & die Keure, die Keure, la Charte, Droits fondamentaux et pauvreté / Grondrechten en Armoede, Edi.Pro, Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles, Ernst & Young, Politeia, LeA Uitgevers, Legitech, Boom Juridisch Antwerpen, VBO/FEB, Owl Press and Story Publishers. Publications from Roularta Media Group and Vanden Broele are currently not yet available in LexNow. LexNow features a powerful translation engine, allowing you to consult many documents in your own language. Note: a critical reading of the translations is always recommended.
Lists Anet-catalogue (non-exhaustive)	Journals and books available through Jura	Journals available through Strada lex Books available through Strada lex	Journals available through LexNow Books available through LexNow
Quantitative comparison	Through Jura, you gain access to a total of 1,800,000 documents on legislation; 250,000 documents on case law; 290,000 documents on legal doctrine. Entering an empty search query in the search bar provides access to an overview of all documents, organized by category. On the results page, you can then further filter the documents.	Through Strada lex, you gain access to a total of 1,250,000 documents on legislation, accessible via Filters > Type > Legislation under the search bar; 1,000,000 documents on case law, accessible via Filters > Type > Case Law under the search bar; 340,000 documents on legal doctrine, accessible via Filters > Type > Doctrines under the search bar.	Through LexNow, you gain access to a total of 200,000 documents on legislation; 425,000 documents on case law; 60,000 documents on legal doctrine. Entering an empty search query in the search bar through 'advanced criteria' provides access to an overview of all documents, organized by category. On the results pages, you can then further filter the documents.
Access	On campus, you have unlimited access to Jura. Through VPN, staff also have off-campus access. Temporarily, students also have off-campus access to the database via EZproxy.	On campus, you have unlimited access to Strada lex. Through VPN, staff also have off-campus access. Students also have off-campus access to the database via EZproxy. About 150 textbooks are not included in the off-campus access.	On campus, you have unlimited access to Jura. Through VPN, staff also have off-campus access. Over the course of 2024, students will also gain off-campus access to the database via EZproxy.
Download and print	Yes	Only on campus and for journals and books older than three years	Only on campus
Support	Tutorials \| FAQ \| Tips & tricks \| Manuals (Dutch)	Manual	Introduction

The numbers provided are always indicative. Last updated on December 8, 2023.

E-sources and government websites | Belgium

A number of practical tools, specialized databases, and (government) websites allow you to supplement and deepen the data concerning legislation, jurisprudence, and doctrine that you have collected through the general platforms Jura, Strada lex and LexNow, depending on the subject or legal discipline.

Special databases

Fisconetplus, the fiscal database of the FPS Finance.
monKEY, a database on taxation, accountancy and company law.
SocialEye focuses on labour law and social security law (also collective agreements per sector).
On TaxWin Expert (only on campus) you will find data on VAT, personal income tax, corporate income tax, registration and inheritance tax...
The Kenniscentrum Kinderrechten (Children's Rights Knowledge Centre) provides access to tools, knowledge articles and research related to children's rights through its website.
Digithemis, legal history information system.

Special databases

Omdat is a free platform for Belgian case law.
Legidex provides access to consolidated Flemish, Walloon, Belgian and European legislation and contains a database of more than 370,000 judgments (verdicts, rulings...).
De 'Blauwe wetboeken van Die Keure' (Blue law books of Die Keure) can be found online in Omnilegie.

General databases

Practical tools

Rechtgenoot.be gives you a concise overview of relevant publications by branch of law.
Rechtsaf makes you familiar with legal abbreviations.
At Rechtstreeks.be you will find all kinds of legal classics collected in one place.
Le Docte is a quadrilingual legal dictionary (English, French, Dutch, German).

Tools

Government websites | Belgiumlex

On the portal site Belgiumlex, you can find out which government databases contain data on the parliamentary preparation of laws, internal legislation, international legislation, and jurisprudence, i.e. judgments and rulings of Belgian courts. Belgiumlex provides direct links to the (partial) information for each government database and - through the 'more info' button - a concise overview of the data you can find there.

Parliamentary preparation

Legislative files

Belgiumlex | Preparatory Parliamentary Proceedings

Government databases

Belgian official gazette (Belgisch Staatsblad): Official publication of laws, Royal Decrees, decrees, etc. (available online since 1997).
Edulex Access to education legislation and circulars.
Justel contains
- the titles of all legal and judicial texts published in the Belgian Official Gazette since 1945 (including older ones);
- the complete consolidated version of the legislative texts published in the Belgian Official Gazette since 1994;
- legislative texts prior to June 1994 in all domains (except for tax and administrative law).
Juridat, portal for Belgian legislation and jurisprudence.
Juportal, search engine for (published) judgments and decisions from courts and tribunals in Belgium.
Lex.be, an alternative for Justel | Juportal.
Reflex allows searching for regulations applicable in Belgium and navigating to data from the Chamber of Representatives, the Senate, the Flemish Parliament, and other legal databases such as Justel.
Foreign affairs |Treaties. All treaties from 1987 onwards.
Flemish Codex contains the consolidated Flemish legislation.
Service for Administrative Jurisdictions (DBRC): Umbrella service for the Enforcement College (Handhavingscollege), the Council for Permit Disputes (Raad voor Vergunningsbetwistingen), the Council of Election Disputes (Raad voor Verkiezingsbetwistingen) and the Council for Disputes regarding Decisions on Study Progression (Raad voor betwistingen inzake studievoortgangsbeslissingen).
Gallilex contains the legislation and regulations of the French-speaking community.
Wallex provides access to the legislation and regulations of the Walloon Region.

Government databases

Government websites

E-sources and government websites | Europe & International

International legal sources through Maastricht University

As a student at the Faculty of Law of UHasselt, you are also a student of Maastricht University and with your UM login details, you have access to their electronic resources, even from home. More information about the jointly organized program can be found here.

Maastricht University | Legal e-sources

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In addition to the resources offered by Maastricht University, Hasselt University provides access to several internationally oriented databases (Strada lex Europe | Hein Online | Legal Source).

Furthermore, many online sources are freely accessible. On Globalex, in the 'International Law Research' and 'Comparative Law Research' sections, you can find an overview of databases and websites useful for (comparative) research on international legislation and jurisprudence. The 'Foreign Law Research' section provides an alphabetical list that links to at least one online research guide per country with information about the legal system and key sources.

Eur-Lex is the go-to resource for legislation and jurisprudence of the European Union. Information on legislation and preparatory texts can be found in the Official Journal and the Directory. Regarding jurisprudence, you can consult EU case law and Curia for the judgments of the Court of Justice since 1957. Through Find-eR, you can search open access publications, including those of the European Union.