International Team Project United Arab Emirates—Dubai: Research Checklist

Prepared for International Team Project UAE -- Dubai at Northwestern University School of Law, Spring 2011 Semester, by Irene Berkey, Foreign and International Law Librarian.

Materials in this checklist are primarily in English, unless otherwise noted.

For questions about this guide, contact Heidi Kuehl, Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Librarian and Coordinator of Educational Programming and Outreach (e-mail | (312) 503-4725) .

General Country Information

• General Resources by Country or Region (history, geography, government, economy, etc.) Find information on the United Arab Emirates/Dubai in these multi-country resources.
• Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World
  I,REF DS 35.53 .O95 2001 v.1-4

Middle Eastern Studies Web Sites

• Columbia University Middle East Studies Internet Resources (World Wide Web Virtual Library).

Governmental Web Sites

• UAE Government Official Portal (English version).
• UAE Federal National Council.  (In Arabic.)
• Official Portal of Dubai Government (English version)
• Dubai Courts (English version).
• Dubai Public Prosecution (English version).

Laws and Legal System

Introductions/Research Guides/Links to Selected Laws:

• “United Arab Emirates,” in Legal Systems of the World: A Political, Social, and Cultural Encyclopedia, volume 4, pages 1688-1694 I,REF K 48 .L44 2002 vol. 4
• Foreign Law Guide: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World by Reynolds and Flores. For each country, includes background on the legal system and legal publication, as well as citations to laws on particular topics and to English language translations .
• A Guide to the United Arab Emirates Legal System By Ahmed Aly Khedr and Bassam Alnuaimi (GlobaLex).
• “The Legal System in the United Arab Emirates,” in Practical Guide to Litigation and Arbitration in the United Arab Emirates, by Essam Al Tamimi (Kluwer, 2003), pp.1-8 and “The Courts,” pp. 9-18.  N,GUI KMV 1829 .A95 2003  Also available electronically
• “Brief Introduction to the Economic and Legal Context,” in Intellectual Property Law and Practice of the United Arab Emirates, by Peter W. Hansen (Oxford, 2009). N,GUI KMV1155 .H36 2009
• Guide to Law Online: United Arab Emirates Law Library of Congress
• World Legal Information Institute (WORLDLII) – United Arab Emirates
• DIFC Laws and Regulations Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Links to federal laws, Dubai Laws, and DIFC laws and regulations. 
• Al-Tamimi & Company Under “Publications” see “Law Update,” “Legal Articles, and “Legal Brochures.”

Constitution:

• Constitutions of the Countries of the World (search for United Arab Emirates in "Location" box). Also available in print. I,MON K 3157 .A2B58 1971 v.19  Includes The Provisional Constitution of the United Arab Emirates, 1971, and The United Arab Emirates Unofficial Government Translation of Constitutional Amendment No. (1) of 1996.

Case Law:

• United Arab Emirates Court of Cassation Judgments, 1998-2003, by Richard Price and Essam Al Tamimi (Brill, 2001) 
  N,GUI KMV 18 .A4 2005
• United Arab Emirates Court of Cassation Judgments,1989-1997, by Richard Price and Essam Al  Tamimi (Kluwer, 1998)
  N,GUI KMV 18 .A4 1998

Family Law:

• Islamic Family Law: United Arab Emirates  From Emory University Law School. Note: updated as of 2002 only.

Finding Books

• Finding Books at Northwestern University (NUcat Searching Tips)
• Finding Books at Other Libraries (WorldCat )

Finding Articles

Hints: Many subject areas are relevant - not just law. | Use indexes to identify relevant articles. | " Advanced search" often easier than "basic search." | Find relevant citation, then click on " subject headings" or " descriptors" to find more. | " Find it at NU" button often leads to electronic full text. | NUcat " journal title" search leads to print and/or electronic full text.

• Find Legal Articles (mostly from U.S. and Anglo-American journals, including foreign and international law topics)
• Finding Articles and Papers on Foreign and Comparative Law (for articles on law of countries other than the U.S. and comparative law methodology, from journals published both in the U.S. and abroad)
• Finding Articles and Papers on International Law (for public and private international law)
• Find Non-Law Articles (for subjects in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences)

Finding Dissertations

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: Full Text Entries for doctoral dissertations and master's theses, many of which are available for immediate free download. Can search by school, e.g., Northwestern.

Finding Statistics

• Dubai Statistics Centre
• United Arab Emirates National Bureau of Statistics
• Worldwide Statistical Resources

News: General, Legal, and Business

• Note that both Lexis and Westlaw allow you to create and save a search, to be run on a periodic basis, such as daily or weekly. For links to tutorials, see the Research Alerts page of the library's web site. Many organizations make it possible to monitor news by means of an RSS/XML ("Really Simple Syndication") feed. For information of setting up RSS feeds, see the Research Alerts: RSS Feeds section of the library's web site.

• LexisNexis: News & Business tab > Country & Region (excluding U.S.) > Middle East & Africa > News
• Westlaw:

International/worldwide materials > Middle East and North Africa >  Individual Country Materials >  United Arab Emirates > Business and News
NewsRoom with Reuters  tab > Middle East News  with Reuters (Database = RMIDNEWS)

• World News Connection . Provided to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) by the Open Source Center (OSC).
• ISI Emerging Markets . Includes news items. Click on “UAE.”
• News Sources for the Middle East From Columbia University Libraries, part of World Wide Web Virtual Library.
• UAE News and Information UAE Interact
• Al Jazeera English  
• Al Arabiya.net English

Regional and International Organizations

Note: UAE is not necessarily a member of all the organizations listed below. However, these web sites provide information about the UAE.

• Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) 
• League of Arab States   (In Arabic; English site is under construction)
• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• United Nations Economic, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Trade Organization (WTO) See United Arab Emirates and the WTO

Additional Resources for Special Topics

Business and Economic Development

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  UAE and The Millenium Development Goals
• International Finance Corporation (IFC) – United Arab Emirates
• FDI.net – United Arab Emirates Information on foreign direct investment in the UAE from Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group.
• EconLit Citations and selected abstracts to articles from more than 400 economics journals.
• ISI Emerging Markets
• ABI/INFORM Citations, abstracts and many full text articles on business and management
• Business Source Premier Citations, abstracts and many full text articles from scholarly publications on business.
• GlobalEDGE (TM) Resource Desk. Michigan State University.
• See our web site's International Trade, Business, and Economic Law page.

Children/Family (see also Women's Issues)

• UNICEF - United Arab Emirates   
• Family & Society Studies Worldwide 

Criminal Justice

• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Education

• ERIC Citations to articles and reports on education.

Environment/Land Use/Natural Resources

• ECOLEX. World Conservation Union (IUCN). A database of imformation on environmental law.
• FAOLEX. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. A legislative database on food, agriculture, and renewable natural resources.

Health

• World Health Organization (WHO) – United Arab Emirates

Human Rights

• 2009 Human Rights Report – United Arab Emirates U.S. Dept. of State
• UAE Amnesty International
• United Arab Emirates United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR).
• Human Rights Watch – United Arab Emirates
• Association of Jurists, UAE  (In Arabic.)
• Human Rights portion of Pritzker Legal Research Center web site

Labor

• NATLEX. International Labour Organization (ILO). A database containing references to national laws on labour, social security, and related human rights, and some laws in full-text.

Politics and Government

• International Political Science Abstracts . Citations and abstracts to English and non-English language periodicals throughout the world. Covers political science, public law, international law, and international relations.
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts . Citations with abstract from more than 1100 journals in political science and related disciplines. Coverage is international in scope.

Refugees/Immigration/Relief

• Guide to International Refugee Resources on the Web. By Elisa Mason (LLRX.com, 2009).
• UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency See United Arab Emirates.
• ReliefWeb – United Arab Emirates

Women's Issues (see also Children/Family)

• Contemporary Women's Issues works from sociology, psychology, health, education, and human rights.
• Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures
  I,REF HQ 1170 .E53 2003
• See other databases on Gender Studies available from the Northwestern University Library.