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European Collection

European Union and Member States

For fifty years, Middle Temple Library has maintained and developed a nationally significant collection of European legal materials. The collection continues to evolve in tandem with important legislative and judicial shifts within the European Union, as well as the UK’s ever-changing relationship with it: from its membership in 1973 to its withdrawal in 2020.

The European collection is located on the third-floor in the Library and comprises the following materials:

 

Primary resources

The collection includes various editions of EU primary legislation, along with secondary legislation – as published in the Official Journal of the European Unionwhich is held in print up to 2013; and on EUR-Lex from 2013. Annotated legislation can be found in the Encyclopedia of European Union law. There are also codes and official journals from several member states available in the collection.

The Library holds the official Reports of Cases Before the Court of Justice and the General Courtfrom the Court of Justice of the European Union. In addition to these reports, the Library also houses: Common Market Law Reports and European Law Reports of Cases in the UK and IrelandThere are also several series devoted to the laws of member states, such as European Commercial Cases which contains, in English, reports and digests of selected cases before national courts. The Library also holds European Current Law, which records legal developments throughout Europe.

 

Textbooks

The European textbook collection is located in BAY 312-315. Titles include general practitioner texts and academic works on specific aspects of EU law, such as: banking, competition, procurement, environment, and free movement of persons.

Materials on the EU’s twenty-seven member states are located in BAY 311-312. The majority of books are in English, dual-English, or translated into English; however, some titles are held in German or French to increase coverage.

 

Journals and e-resources

Major European journals of EU law are collected by the library, as well as a selection of journals on more specialist subjects, such as European Competition Law Review or European Intellectual Property Review. Some key titles from member states are also available, such as Recueil Dalloz online.

In recent years, the Library has expanded its e-book collection, and members can now access specialised content from Kluwer Competition, Kluwer Arbitration, Oxford Competition Law, and Oxford Legal Research.

Leading databases containing key European legal materials are available for members to use, for example: Lexis+, Lexis®PSL’s Europe module and Westlaw UK. For an exhaustive list of the library’s subscription databases, please see the e-resources and e-books page. In addition to the library’s subscriptions, members are encouraged to use EUR-Lex (home of the EU’s Official Journal, case law, legislation, and official notices) and CURIA (the official website of the EU’s judicial branch: the Court of Justice of the European Union).

 

Irish law

Middle Temple Library also holds a specialist Irish law collection. Irish law materials can be found on the third floor in the Library, which sit as part of the wider European collection of the EU and its member states.

 

Primary resources

Irish case law is shelved in BAY 288-305, in the corridor on the third floor. Case law includes the Irish Reports.

 

Textbooks

Textbooks on the law of Ireland are located in BAY 311. Titles include general practitioner texts and academic works on specific aspects of Irish law, such as: company law; environmental law, securities law, and several comprehensive guides on the structure of the Irish legal system.

 

Journals and e-resources

The Library also collects The Irish Law Times, located in BAY 305-306. Through Lexis®Library, the Library has access to The Irish Reports, with coverage from 1919, and includes reports from: the Supreme Court of Ireland; the High Court, and the Court of Criminal Appeal. Other journals includes: The Irish law times and solicitors' journal and The Irish Jurist.

Bloomsbury Professional Online includes the Irish Tax Reports with coverage from 1922 to the present. BPO also contains a wealth of commentary in eBook format; for an exhaustive list of all eBook titles, please see the library catalogue.

 

Old editions

Old editions of all key European textbooks (EU, member states, and Ireland) are kept for point-in-time and historical research. Superseded titles are discoverable on the library catalogue; they are shelved in sequential order at BAY 307 through to BAY 310, and continue in the two cabinets on the third floor. Please note that all old editions are marked by green spine label.

 

Further information

For a detailed overview of the European collections at Middle Temple Library, please consult the relevant library guide. Alternatively, please contact the library.

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