International Law

Globalization has long been a priority at Yale Law School, with Law School faculty and students active around the globe. Leading foreign legal thinkers arrive at Yale every year to instruct students in international and foreign law. Students who hold foreign law degrees come to the Law School for a graduate education that will help them become leading intellectuals in their home countries.

Yale Law School’s international law curriculum provides an array of traditional courses, smaller seminars, and clinical/experiential learning opportunities, from classic courses in International Law, Business Transactions, Constitutional, or Criminal Law, to clinical offerings in immigration, human rights, the environment, and foreign affairs.

The Law School’s longstanding international tradition occupies a central place in its intellectual life, and many legal issues are approached from a global perspective. The devotion of its faculty and students to its myriad international projects has made Yale a first-class global law school, and the strength of its internationally-focused and specialized centers and programs is matched if not exceeded by the wealth of opportunities available to law students who wish to pursue international activities and research through other Yale University institutions.

A key strength of Yale Law School is the strong support it offers for student initiatives. Students respond to this support by creating immensely varied, creative, and meaningful programs and activities, from student-initiated courses and reading groups, to student-run journals, to organizations with an international focus. And there are numerous opportunities for post-graduate and summer fellowships in all corners of the globe.

In support of our student and faculty interest in this area, the Lillian Goldman Law Library has an extensive collection of foreign, comparative and international legal materials, and a crew of librarians trained in the law and specializing in foreign, comparative, and international legal research.  

The Law Library has over 200,000 monographs in the major western European languages, as well as a smaller selection in the Chinese and Slavic languages.  Collection strengths in foreign law include the civil law jurisdictions of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, as well as the common law jurisdictions of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  There are also growing Chinese and Latin American collections. Collection emphases include constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and legal history.

The international collection is very strong in public international law, especially humanitarian law and human rights law.  Private international law is of increasing importance particularly in the areas of investment, trade, and corporate law.  The Law Library also develops collections in comparative law, Ancient Greek and Roman law, Canon, Islamic and Judaic law, and a sizable collection of materials relating to international relations and contemporary international legal issues.  In addition to print material, there is a microform collection and a vast array of electronic resources.