Research guide to law resources | ZHAW University Library

Be efficient in your research and use the various databases, reference works and additional literature in the field of law.

Databases

Reference works

Bachelor's and master's theses

Databases

Name	Content	Guide
Swisslex LEX Campus	Subjects: Swiss law Coverage: Switzerland, multilingual Content: Decisions, journals, commentaries, monographs, commemorative publications, dissertations Special feature: Most comprehensive legal database in Switzerland Access only for ZHAW students and staff with free registration. Swisslex applies a monthly query limit for students, visible in the customer profile after logging in.	Video tutorials
legalis.ch	Subjects: Swiss law Coverage: Switzerland, multilingual Content: Laws, decisions, commentaries, professional articles Special feature: Includes the latest Basler commentaries and full texts of the journals ius.focus, Praxis (Pra), Steuerentscheid (StE), SZZP, PSPC	-
Weblaw	Subjects: Swiss law Coverage: Switzerland, multilingual Content: Weblaw publications, case law and legislation from federal and cantonal authorities, social welfare law database, and Lawsearch Special feature: Jusletter (weekly online journal), push service (automatic monitoring of the latest case law) Individual password required to use all services such as the app, push notifications, e-books in the shop, registration directly on the Weblaw website	-
Decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (BGE)	Subjects: Decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court Coverage: Switzerland, multilingual Content: Court decisions, full texts of rulings Special feature: Freely accessible; all decisions published in the Official Collection from volume 80 (1954), most unpublished decisions since 2000, and all decisions since 2007 Expert search via ZHAW login (one simultaneous user – please log out)	-
Codexplo	Subjects: Commentaries on the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) and Code of Obligations (OR) Coverage: Switzerland, multilingual Content: Articles in the major ZGB and OR commentaries: Basler, Berner, Zürcher, and Commentaire romand Special feature: Links to the volumes containing commentary on specific articles. The link for located books leads to swisscovery.	-
LexFind	Subjects: Swiss federal and cantonal legislation Coverage: Switzerland, multilingual Content: Laws, ordinances, regulations Special feature: Freely accessible; updated daily and therefore identical to the versions on cantonal and federal websites	Guide More information
Social Welfare Law	Subjects: Swiss social welfare law Coverage: Switzerland, multilingual Content: Laws, decisions, commentaries, practical guidelines	-
ZH-Lex – Zurich Legal Collection	Subjects: Legislation of the Canton of Zurich Coverage: Canton of Zurich, German Content: Laws and ordinances Special feature: Freely accessible	-
Entscheidungen der Zürcher Zivil- und Strafgerichte	Subjects: Decisions of the Zurich civil and criminal courts Coverage: Canton of Zurich, German Content: Court decisions Special feature: Freely accessible	-
Nexis Uni	Subjects: News, business, law Coverage: International, multilingual Content: Newspapers, journals, business information, legal information	Guides Swiss sources in Nexis
National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts – NCJRS	Subjects: Criminal law and criminology Coverage: International, English Content: Abstracts of US and international publications (books, research reports, journal articles)	-

Reference works

farbige Bücher stehen in einem Regal in der Hochschulbibliothek

Not sure where to start yet? Reference works are a good first step: they provide definitions, give an overview of a topic and help you find the right search terms for your research.

You can find all reference works in ZHAW swisscovery. To help you get started quickly in your specialist area, we have put together a selection of titles below.

General reference works can be found with the monolingual and multilingual dictionaries.

Title	Additional information
A Dictionary of Law	There are further reference works from Oxford on the topic of law.

Bachelor's and master's theses

Selected theses from the School of Management and Law are available in the ZHAW digitalcollection.

More exceptional master's theses from the series "Editions Weblaw" are available in the database Weblaw. To use Weblaw a password is needed and therefore you have to fill in the registration form initially.