The Most Viewed Legal Research Reports and Global Legal Monitor Articles of 2023

The Law Library of Congress is unique in many ways. To accomplish our mission of providing authoritative legal research, reference, and instruction services, and access to an unrivaled collection of U.S., foreign, comparative, and international law materials, our staff publishes legal research reports at the request of Congress, as well as articles in the Global Legal Monitor, described as the Law Library’s global legal newspaper. Our staff includes foreign and U.S.-trained legal specialists and law librarians from around the world who cover 300+ jurisdictions. Many of these foreign law specialists have a law degree from their country of origin and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from a U.S. law school.

The foreign law specialists write reports and provide expert witness testimony for Congress and various executive branch agencies. If the office requesting the report provides permission, these reports are made available online via the Law Library website and are also available on HeinOnline. You can access the Law Library’s reports by topic, region, and year of publication, or you can simply browse all of the reports. These reports address specific legal issues for a particular country or present a comparative multinational analysis of legal approaches to an individual problem in a variety of countries.

As mentioned, our foreign law specialists and law librarians also write for the Global Legal Monitor, an online publication from the Law Library of Congress covering legal news and developments worldwide. You can browse the Global Legal Monitor by topic, jurisdiction, or author. In 2023, we published 312 Global Legal Monitor articles.

Here are the most-viewed legal research reports and the Global Legal Monitor articles that were published in 2023, in ascending order, starting with reports.

10. Climate change legislation: China, India, Indonesia

9. Legal treatment of unaccompanied minors: Brazil, Canada, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Russian Federation, Turkey, United Kingdom

8. Jurisdictions with sentencing guidelines

7. Impact of translations of the NIST cybersecurity framework: Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine

6. Investment incentives: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Portugal, Russian Federation, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

5. Repatriation of immigration detainees’ remains

4. Restrictions on land ownership by foreigners in selected jurisdictions

3. Foreigners’ right to real property ownership: China, Iran, North Korea, Russian Federation

2. Safety and security of artificial intelligence systems: Australia, Canada, European Union, New Zealand, United Kingdom

1. Regulation of artificial intelligence around the world

Most-viewed Global Legal Monitor articles

10. China: Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests Revised

9. Pakistan: Amendment to Blasphemy Law Passes in Lower House of Parliament

8. England: Proposed Law Would Introduce Total Ban on Cigarette Sales in Attempt to Phase Out Smoking

7. Latvia: New Law Introduces Compulsory Military Service Starting in January 2024

6. Germany: New “Skilled Workers Immigration Act” Enacted

5. European Union: Prohibition on Flavored Heated Tobacco Products Enters into Force

4. Qatar: New Draft Law Regulating Nationalization of Private Sector Jobs Approved

3. Germany: Government Proposes Reform of Citizenship Law

2. India: Supreme Court Recognizes ‘Irreconcilable Differences’ as a Ground for Divorce under Hindu Law

1. Kenya: Supreme Court Rules Couples Not Entitled to Automatic 50 Percent of Matrimonial Property upon Divorce

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