Guide last updated by Hester Swift, December 2025
This guide was created by Hester Swift, Foreign & International Law Librarian at the IALS Library.
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This research guide covers Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, five countries with close cultural, historical and administrative links.
The Nordic region has a somewhat complicated political history, with Denmark and Sweden dominating for many centuries. Norway in its modern form gained independence in 1905 (it had previously been independent in the Middle Ages, until 1380). Finland declared independence in 1917 and Iceland attained full independence in 1944. Denmark, Sweden and Norway are constitutional monarchies, while Iceland and Finland are republics. Finland has two official languages, Finnish and Swedish.
The Nordic legal systems can be classed as a branch of the civil law family, although some scholars put them in their own category, distinct from civil law, common law and other types of legal system. Roman law has had less influence in the region than in Continental Europe, and the Nordic states do not have systematic codes comparable to those of jurisdictions such as France and Germany.
There has been a tradition of legislative unification or cooperation in the Nordic region since the latter part of the nineteenth century. Norway, Denmark and Sweden began the process and Finland became involved later; Iceland has participated to a lesser extent in the drafting of uniform laws, but has often enacted the laws agreed on by the other four states. The work continues under the aegis of the Nordic Council, which was established in 1952.
Three of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, are members of the European Union. Both Norway and Iceland apply a large proportion of EU laws, however, as members of the European Economic Area (EEA).
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library collects both primary and secondary legal material for Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. A few books on Icelandic law are held, but almost no Icelandic primary material.
HeinOnline's World Constitutions Illustrated provides English translations of the current and past constitutions of all the Nordic countries, together with associated laws, scholarly commentary and other documents.
Denmark's constitution, the Constitutional Act, was adopted in 1953 (law number 169 of 05/06/1953). There is an English version on the website of the Danish Parliament and the Danish text is on the Retsinformation site. At IALS Library, the Danish text can be found in Karnovs Lovsamling.
Finland enacted a new constitution in 1999 (act number 731/1999); previously, it had several constitutional laws. Translations of the constitution into English, French, German, Russian and Spanish are available on FinLex, as are the official Swedish and Finnish versions. The Finnish text is included in Suomen Laki, which is held at IALS.
Iceland's constitution dates from 1944 (act number 33, 17 June 1944). An English translation is available on the Icelandic government's website. A draft reformed constitution was presented to the Icelandic Parliament by the Constitutional Council in 2011, but never adopted. In January 2018, a new constitutional review was launched, which was expected to take until 2025.
Norway's constitution was adopted in 1814. An English version is available on the website of the Norwegian Parliament; and the Norwegian text is on the same site. The Norwegian text can also be found in Norges Lover, a collection of Norwegian laws held at IALS.
Sweden's constitution is made up of four fundamental laws: the Instrument of Government (1974), the Act of Succession (1810), the Freedom of the Press Act (1949) and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (1991). These are accompanied by the Parliament Act (2014), which is not classed as a fundamental law but has superior status to ordinary laws. All are available in English on the website of the Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag. The Swedish versions are also on the Riksdag site; at IALS they can be found in Sveriges Rikes Lag,a collection of Swedish laws.
Danish statutes (love) are usually called 'acts' in English. Delegated legislation takes the form of government orders (bekendtgoerelse), also known in English as 'executive orders' or 'regulations'.
Acts and orders are cited by number, date and title, for example:
Lov nr. 1003 af 8.10.2008 om finansiel stabilitet
Bekendtgoerelse nr. 232 af 23.11. 1933 om udledning af kulbrinte
Bkg. nr. 980 af 27.08.2015 om forretningsorden for Konkurrencerådet ('bkg' stands for 'bekendtgoerelse')
Abbreviations are often used for major acts: 'Kbl' for Koebeloven (Sale of Goods Act), 'Aftl' for Aftaleloven (Contracts Act) and so on. The Synopsis website has a glossary of Danish legal abbreviations (forkortelser).
Denmark has a criminal code (Straffeloven), and a procedural code (Retsplejeloven) covering both civil and criminal matters. These codes and their annual consolidations are published in the legal gazette, Lovtidende. IALS has an English translation of the criminal code and related legislation: Malene Frese Jensen's The Principal Danish Criminal Acts (3rd edn, DJØF 2006).
Online sources
The official Retsinformation website provides Danish legislation free of charge. It includes acts, orders and other instruments, in current and historical versions (see FAQs, in Danish, and N-Lex overview, in English). Users can search Retsinformation by reference number and/or keyword.
New acts and government orders are published in Lovtidende (Danish Law Gazette). Print publication of this series ceased in 2008 and it is available free online from this point onwards. The online version can be searched by title, popular name, number and/or year; to browse by year, click on Argange. Most legislation appears in Afdeling A (part A); fiscal and some other instruments are published in Afdeling B (there is also an Afdeling C, containing treaties). Frequent official consolidations of legislation, called lovbekendtgørelser, appear in Lovtidende, as well as the original texts.
Ministerialtidende, which publishes administrative circulars and guidance, is free online from 2008 (when it ceased print publication) to 2012 (when publication ceased entirely).
Printed sources
IALS Library's main source of Danish legislation is Karnovs lovsamling, an exhaustive compilation of acts and orders in force, with annotations.
The Danish legal gazette, Lovtidende, publishes both acts and orders. IALS holds it from 1939 to 1959 only; since 2008 it has only been published online (see above).
Administrative circulars and official guidance are published in the series Ministerialtidende, which IALS holds from 1965 to 1974. (It is available online from 2008 to 2012 - see above).
Finnish acts and decrees are cited by number and year, for example:
503/2008 Laki rahanpesun ja terrorismin rahoittamisen estämisestä ja selvittämisestä
(Act on Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism Prevention and Investigation)
Online sources
FINLEX, a free service provided by the Ministry of Justice and Edita Publishing, provides Finnish acts and decrees both in their original form and as amended, as well as secondary legislation and treaties. It also includes Electronic Statutes of Finland (Sähköinen säädöskokoelma in Finnish, Elektronisk författningssamling in Swedish), which is the official source of legislation since January 2011 (see Sami Sarvilinna, 'Finnish Law on the Internet', Globalex).
Translations of many acts and decrees into English and other languages are available on FINLEX.
Edilex, a subscription service produced by Edita Publishing, includes legislation as amended. IALS does not subscribe.
Suomen laki, a compilation of legislation as amended, is available online, but IALS has the printed edition only.
Printed sources
IALS Library holds Suomen laki, a collection of Finnish legislation as amended, published annually by Talentum. Though not an official publication, it is widely used by Finnish lawyers. Suomen laki started in 1955 and is held at IALS from 1995 onwards (with some gaps); we also have two old copies of the Swedish-language version, Finlands lag.
Finnish primary and secondary legislation is published by the Ministry of Justice in the legal gazette, Suomen säädöskokoelma / Finlands författningssamling (Statutes of Finland), not held at IALS. Statutes of Finland was the official source of Finnish legislation until the end of 2010, when the online version, Electronic Statutes of Finland (on FINLEX - see above) was given official status.
Notices, circulars and similar documents are published in the official gazette, Virallinen lehti / Officiella tidningen (not held at IALS).
Icelandic acts are cited by number and year, for example: Lög nr. 44/2005 (Act no. 44/2005).
Online sources
Legislation is published in the Icelandic Official Gazette, Stjórnartídindi, which is free online from 2001 onwards (and online only from 2005). Acts are in Part A and delegated legislation (regulations and decrees) in Part B. (There is also a Part C, covering treaties, which is online from 1995 onwards.)
Consolidated legislation, Lagasafn, is on the website of the Icelandic Parliament; acts as passed are also provided,1957/58 onwards.
Consolidated regulations, Reglugerðasafn, are on Iceland's public services website, Ísland.is.
English translations of many Icelandic acts, including consolidated versions of the Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure Act, can be found on the Government of Iceland portal.
Printed sources
IALS Library does not hold Icelandic legislation: for details of print holdings in other UK libraries, see the FLAG Foreign Law Guide.
The printed version of the Icelandic official gazette, Stjórnartídindi, published new legislation up to 2004, then became an online-only title. The gazette has three sections: A for acts of parliament, B for delegated legislation (regulations and decrees) and C for treaties.
A consolidated set of legislation used to be published in hard copy every few years under the title Lagasafn: íslensk lög [date], by the Ministry of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs (Dóms- og kirkjumálaráduneytid).
Norway has both national and local statutes and regulations. Some Norwegian statutes are described as codes, for example, lov om straff, the Penal Code (Act 2005-05-20-28).
Acts may be referred to using abbreviations, such as 'al' for arveloven (Inheritance Act). The meanings of legal abbreviations can be looked up in Knophs oversikt over Norges rett, or in Norges lover, both held at IALS.
Online sources
Lovdata, a private foundation that was established by the Ministry of Justice and the University of Oslo, provides legislation free of charge:-
There is a subscription-based version of Lovdata, called Lovdata Pro, which includes current and historical legislation and other legal material. IALS does not subscribe.
Norsk lovkommentar, a collection of Norwegian legislation with commentary, is available online via Gyldendal's Rettsdata service, for a fee, but IALS does not subscribe.
Printed sources
IALS Library has the one-volume compilation of revised Norwegian statutes, Norges lover, from 1963 to 2018 and 2022 onwards. Once published annually by Fagbokforlaget, it is now published every other year by the Norwegian Parliament (see Norges Lover - ny utgave).
We do not have recent Norwegian regulations, but they are available on Lovdata; for regulations published from 1949 to 1962, see Norsk lovtidend (below).
Limited runs of two official statutory publications are available at IALS:
IALS also has a five-volume set of ancient Norwegian laws, Norges gamle love indtil 1387 (published by C. Gröndahl, 1846-95).
Swedish statutes and regulations are published in the series Svensk författningssamling (SFS), or 'Swedish Code of Statutes'. They are cited by year and number, for example: Lag om Diskrimineringsombudsmannen SFS 2008: 568.
Online sources
Svensk författningssamling (Swedish Code of Statutes) is on the official Swedish law website, Lagrummet. Laws as originally published are under '... (SFS) i tryckt format' and laws as amended are under '... (SFS) i fulltext'.
Preparatory legislative material is available online from the Swedish Parliament, under Dokument & Lagar ('Documents and Laws'). This searchable collection includes the two series, Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU) and Departementsserien (Ds): select a series under Dokumentyp.
English translations of some Swedish statutes can be found on official websites:
Riksdag (Parliament): the fundamental laws and the Riksdag Act;
Ministry of Justice: laws on migration, democracy and criminal law and the judicial system;
Ministry of Employment: labour legislation.
Paid-for Swedish law databases include Infotorg Juridik and JUNO; IALS does not subscribe to either service.
Printed sources
IALS Library's main source of Swedish legislation is the one-volume compilation of laws in force, Sveriges Rikes Lag. It is published annually by Norstedts / Wolters Kluwer Scandinavia and IALS has it from 1948 onwards (with some gaps).
We have Svensk författningssamling (Swedish Code of Statutes) from 1955 to 1990 only, with an index going up to 2004; there is a free online version.
IALS also holds some translated Swedish legislation, in the looseleaf collection, Swedish Commercial Legislation (Norstedts / Wolters Kluwer).
Revised legislation with commentary is found in the three-volume work Karnov - svensk lagsamling med kommentarer, published annually by Nordstedts (not held at IALS).
The concise way in which Swedish legislation is drafted means that the travaux préparatoires (preparatory documents) are an important tool for interpretation. They are published in one of two series: either Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU) or Departementsserien (Ds). IALS has a few old issues of SOU (Browse Library Search by series to find them) but none of Ds; both series are available online as part of the Swedish Parliament's Documents and Laws database, as mentioned above. Summaries of the travaux for selected laws can be found in part II of the series Nytt juridiskt arkiv, which is in IALS Library up to 1990.
There are two series of law reports covering cases from all five Nordic countries, both published in Norway:-
English-language information about the judicial system can be found on the Danish Courts website.
Online sources
The Danish Supreme Court has a database of selected decisions from September 2009 onwards: Højesterets afgørelsesdatabase.
The Maritime and Commercial Court provides its cases from 2002 onwards: Søgeside - domme.
The official legal information website Retsinformation includes a collection of administrative decisions (select afgørelser).
The leading law report, Ugeskrift for retsvæsen, and several other series are on the commercial database Karnov Online (IALS does not subscribe).
Printed sources
The main source of Danish cases is the series Ugeskrift for retsvæsen (abbreviation 'UfR', or 'U'). It is held at IALS from 1874 onwards (incomplete). UfR covers decisions of the Supreme Court (Højesteret), the two high courts (Østre Landsret and Vestre Landsret) and the Maritime and Commercial Court (Sø- og Handelsretten).
Specialist law reports include the tax series Tidsskrift for skatter og afgifter (TfS), and the employment series Arbejdsretligt tidsskrift. Neither title is held at IALS.
An English-language introduction to Finland's judicial system is available on the Finnish courts website.
Online sources
The official FINLEX website provides cases from the Finnish Supreme Court, Supreme Administrative Court, appeal courts, regional administrative courts, Market Court, Labour Court and Insurance Court, in Finnish and Swedish. FINLEX is a free resource owned by the Ministry of Justice and produced by Edita Publishing.
English-language summaries of selected cases are available on the websites of the Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court.
FINLEX compiles references to court decisions in secondary legal literature, Oikeuskäytäntö kirjallisuudessa, with interfaces in Finnish, Swedish and English.
Edita Publishing's law database, Edilex, includes case law (IALS does not subscribe).
Printed sources
At IALS Library, Finnish cases can be found in the journals Defensor legis (held 1920 onwards) and Lakimies (held 1962 onwards).
The Supreme Court (Korkein oikeus in Finnish, Högsta domstolen in Swedish) publishes selected decisions in its yearbook, Korkeimman Oikeuden ratkaisuja / Avgöranden av Högsta domstolen. The yearbook is not held at IALS, but cases from it are available on FINLEX (see above). Supreme Court cases are cited by the yearbook's abbreviation, KKO (or HD), the year and the case number, for example:
KKO:2007:211
KKO:1977-II-76. (citation style used till the mid-1980s, including the part number of the yearbook)
The Supreme Administrative Court has its own yearbook: Korkeimman hallinto-oikeuden vuosikirja (KHO) (Högsta förvaltningsdomstolens årsbok). This is not held at IALS, but cases from it are on FINLEX (see above). Supreme Administrative Court cases are cited by date and case number, for example, 29.12.2006/3616, or by yearbook citation, for example, KHO: 2005:87.
Information in English about the Supreme Court of Iceland (Hæstiréttur Íslands), including its composition and procedures, can be found on the Court's website.
Online sources
Supreme Court decisions from January 1999 onwards can be found on the Court's website.
District court decisions are available on the district courts website.
Printed sources
All decisions of the Supreme Court are published in the series Hœstaréttardómar, together with the first instance cases. IALS does not hold this title.
There is a description of the Norwegian court system in Rebecca J. Five Bergstrøm's 'Legal Research in Norway' (Globalex).
Online sources
The Norwegian Supreme Court (Norges Høyesterett) provides full decisions from 2008 onwards and summaries from 2000 to 2007 (in Norwegian). Some decisions are available in English, from 2000 onwards: full translations of selected cases and short summaries of other decisions.
The free version of Lovdata has all reasoned decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal from 2008 onwards and decisions of the district courts and land consolidation courts from 2016 onwards, in Norwegian; it also provides some judgments translated into English. The commercial service, Lovdata Pro, has cases from 1945 onwards, including the Supreme Court report, Norsk Retstidende.
Gyldendal Rettsdata, another commercial database, also has Norwegian cases (IALS does not subscribe).
Printed sources
Almost all decisions of the Norwegian Supreme Court are published in the series Norsk Retstidende. This title is held at IALS from vol.115 (1950) to vol.130 (1965), with some gaps, and from 1999 to 2015; it ceased print publication at the end of 2015. Cases published in the print edition are cited by the abbreviation 'Rt' plus the year of publication and page number: for example, Rt 2007 s. 4145. Cases in the online-only edition are cited by the case number, for example, HR-2016-106-A.
Selected decisions of the lower courts were published in Rettens Gang (RG) from 1933 until the end of 2013, when the series ceased publication. RG is not held at IALS Library.
There are also Norwegian reports focusing on particular areas of law, for example Dommer, uttalelser m.v. i skattesaker og skattespørsmål ('Decisions and Rulings etc. on Tax Matters'; not in IALS).
There is an introduction to the Swedish judicial system in Sofia Sternberg's 'Swedish Law and Legal Materials' (Globalex).
Online sources
The Swedish Courts (Sveriges Domstolar) website has a case database covering the higher courts, such as the Supreme Court, Supreme Administrative Court and Courts of Appeal. It consists mainly of case summaries, but full judgments are included from 3 March 2025 onwards.
The Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) website provides summaries of its decisions from 1981 onwards and full judgments from 2023 onwards; it also has selected decisions in English. Cases are also available on the websites of other courts.
The Swedish Arbitration Portal has arbitral decisions by Swedish courts, in English as well as Swedish.
Printed sources
Decisions of the Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) are published in Nytt juridiskt arkiv (NJA), part I. The whole series is held at IALS Library (1874 onwards).
Selected decisions of the courts of appeal (Hovrätterna) from 1981 onwards appear in Rättsfall från hovrätterna (RH); this series is not held at IALS. Until 1980, court of appeal cases were published in the journal Svensk juristtidning (SvJT), which IALS has from volume 3 (1918) onwards.
Cases from the Supreme Administrative Court (Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen, formerly Regeringsrätten) appear in its yearbook, Högsta förvaltningsdomstolens årsbok (previous title Regeringsrättens årsbok). This series is not held at IALS.
Cases of general interest from the Labour Court (Arbetsdomstolen) are published in Arbetsdomstolens domar (not held at IALS).
Cases from the Market Court were published in Marknadsdomstolens avgöranden (not held at IALS) until 2016. The court ceased to exist on 1 September 2016, replaced by the new Patent and Market Court and Patent and Market Court of Appeal.
IALS Library holds books about the law of the Nordic region and its component jurisdictions, in English and other languages. A selection of English-language titles are listed below; for details of the full collection, in all languages, see Library Search.
Nordic region
Scandinavian Studies in Law (Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law 1957 - ): an English-language book series that now runs to over 70 volumes; held at IALS Library in hard copy and also on HeinOnline (with 2-year embargo); all but the most recent volumes are free to access on the Scandinavian Studies in Law Database.
Are Vegard Haug (ed.), Crisis Management, Governance and COVID-19: Pandemic Policy and Local Government in the Nordic Countries (Edward Elgar Publishing 2024)
Kataina Hylten-Cavallius and Jaan Paju (eds), Free Movement of Persons in the Nordic States : EU Law, EEA Law, and Regional Cooperation (Hart Publishing 2023)
Marianne Holdgaard (ed.), Nordic Inheritance Law Through the Ages: Spaces of Action and Legal Strategies (Brill Nijhoff 2020)
Helle Krunke and Björg Thorarensen (ed.s), The Nordic Constitutions: a Comparative and Contextual Study (Hart 2018)
Konrad Zweigert and Hein Kötz, Introduction to Comparative Law (3rd edn, OUP 1998), Part IV, 'The Nordic Legal Family'
Denmark
Christian Thorning, The Danish EU Opt-Outs : Their Legal Significance, Past and Present (Hart Publishing 2024)
Hans Viggo Godsk Pedersen and Ingrid Lund-Andersen, Family and Succession Law in Denmark (3rd edn., Wolters Kluwer 2021)
Ellen Margrethe Basse, Environmental Law in Denmark (3rd edn., Kluwer Law International 2020)
Lars Bo Langsted et al, Criminal Law in Denmark (Kluwer Law International 2019)
Ulla Rosenkjoer and Ane Lind Gleerup, An Introduction to Danish Law (Forlaget Drammelstrupgaard 2008)
Kenneth Robert Redden (ed.), Modern Legal systems Cyclopedia (W.S. Hein 1984 - ) vol. 3, ch. 2(A), section 2
Finland
Pekka Vihervuori, Environmental Law in Finland (4th edn, Kluwer Law International 2024)
Johanna Niemi, Civil Procedure in Finland (3rd edn, Kluwer Law International 2024)
Anette Alén-Savikko and Päivi Korpisaari, Media Law in Finland (2nd edn, Wolters Kluwer 2021)
Kimmo Nuotio, Sakari Melander and Merita Huomo-Kettunen (eds.), Introduction to Finnish Law and Legal Culture (University of Helsinki 2012)
Jaakko Husa, The Constitution of Finland: a Contextual Analysis (Hart 2010)
Kenneth Robert Redden (ed.) Modern Legal systems Cyclopedia (W.S. Hein 1984 - ), vol. 4, ch.4
Iceland
Ágúst Þór Árnason and Catherine Dupré (ed.s), Icelandic Constitutional Reform: People, Processes, Politics (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group 2021)
Elín Blöndal, Labour Law in Iceland (3rd edn., Kluwer Law International 2019)
Evelyn Ellis and Kristín Benediktsdóttir (ed.s), Equality Into Reality: Action for Diversity and Non-discrimination in Iceland (University of Iceland Press 2011).
Stefan Mar Stefansson, The EEA Agreement and its Adoption into Icelandic Iaw (Universitetsforlaget c.1997)
Albin Eser et al (ed.s), Old Ways and New Needs in Criminal Legislation: Documentation of a German-Icelandic Colloquium on the Development of Penal Law in General and Economic Crime in Particular (Max-Planck-Institut für Ausländisches und Internationales Strafrecht 1989)
Kenneth Robert Redden (ed.), Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia (W.S. Hein 1984 - ) vol. 4, ch.4(A)
Norway
Anna Nylund, Civil Procedure in Norway (Kluwer Law International 2020)
Anine Kierulf, Judicial Review in Norway: a Bicentennial Debate (Cambridge University Press 2019)
Henning Jakhelln, Kristine Fremstad Moen and Maarten Brandsnes Faret, Labour Law in Norway (5th edn, Kluwer Law International 2019)
Eduardo G Pereira and Henrik Bjørnebye (eds), Regulating Offshore Petroleum Resources: the British and Norwegian Models (Edward Elgar Publishing 2019)
Hans Christian Bugge, Environmental Law in Norway (Wolters Kluwer 2018)
Kenneth Robert Redden (ed.), Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia (W.S. Hein 1984 - ), vol. 4, ch.6
Sweden
Axel Adlercreutz, Labour Law in Sweden (4th edn, Wolters Kluwer 2024)
Christine Kirchberger and Christine Storr, Cyber Law in Sweden (3rd edn, Wolters Kluwer 2021)
Finn Madsen, Commercial Arbitration in Sweden: a Commentary on the Arbitration Act (1999:116) and the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (5th edn., Jure Förlag AB 2020)
Laura Carlson, The Fundamentals of Swedish Law: a Guide for Foreign Lawyers and Students (3rd edn, Studentlitteratur 2019)
Nyström, Göran, et al, The Swedish Takeover Code: an Annotated Commentary (Routledge 2017).
Redden, Kenneth Robert (ed.), Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia (W.S. Hein1984 - ), vol. 4, ch.10
These are the law journals available at / via IALS for Nordic jurisdictions (excluding some old series - see Library Search for full holdings):-
Nordic / Scandinavian region
Bergen Journal of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 2013 onwards (open access e-journal)
NIR: Nordiskt immateriellt rättsskydd, held in the library 1965 onwards; also available as an e-journal (open access, 932 onwards)
Nordic Journal of Commercial Law, 2003 onwards via HeinOnline and open access
Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 1983 onwards via HeinOnline (with 5-year embargo)
Nordisk administrativt tidsskrift, 1960-2011 held in hard copy, open access 2011 onwards
Nordisk tidsskrift for kriminalvidenskab, held 1967-68 and 1975-2020; e-journal 1949 onwards (open access)
Scandinavian Studies in Law, held 1957 onwards; also on HeinOnline (with 2-year embargo)
Tidsskrift for rettsvitenskap (TFR), held 1888 onwards
Norway
Lov og rett: norsk jurdisk tidssdrift (LoR), held 1962 onwards
Oslo Law Review, 2014 onwards via HeinOnline and open access
Sweden
Juridisk tidskrift vid Stockholms universitet, hard copy held 1991/92 and 1997/98 onwards, open access 1989/90 onwards
Advokaten (formerly Tidskrift för sveriges advokatsamfund), hard copy held 936 onwards, open access 2002 onwards
Svensk juristtidning, hard copy held 1918 onwards, open access 1916 onwards
Förvaltningsrättslig tidskrift, 1938 onwards, hard copy and open access
Finland
Lakimies, 1962 onwards (abstracts - and some full articles - in English)
Defensor Legis, 1920 onwards
Tidskrift utgiven av Juridiska Föreningen i Finland (JFT), 1951 onwards
Denmark
Juristen: udgivet af Danmarks jurist-og okonomforbund, 1938 onwards (see library catalogue for title variations)
Iceland
The library does not subscribe to any Icelandic law journals.
New York University's GlobaLex website has research guides for each Nordic jurisdiction.
The University of Copenhagen has Danish law and Nordic law research guides on its website, mainly in Danish, with sections in English.
The University of Bergen Law Library has compiled a bibliography of Norwegian law in foreign languages. See also Strømø and Kongshavn,Nordic legal festschriften: a bibliography of the essays written in English, German and French until 1999 (Det Juridske Fakultetsbibliotek, 1999), held at IALS.
Winterton and Moys, Information Sources in Law (2nd edn, Bowker-Saur 1997), has a chapter on each Nordic jurisdiction.
Subscription databases
IALS has some multi-jurisdictional databases that include coverage of the Nordic countries:
IALS Library does not subscribe to any databases focusing solely on the law of Nordic jurisdictions.
Free web resources
Denmark
Retsinformation (official law site): legislation, including consolidated laws; administrative decisions (afgørelser).
Lovtidende (2008 onwards): Danish legal gazette; publishes laws and regulations.
Ministerialtidende (2008 - 2012): administrative gazette that published official circulars and guidance; publication ceased in January 2013.
Højesterets afgørelsesdatabase: Supreme Court decisions September 2009 onwards.
Finland
FINLEX: legislation in its original form and as amended; some translated legislation; treaties; cases from the Finnish Supreme Court, Supreme Administrative Court, appeal courts, regional administrative courts, Market Court, Labour Court and Insurance Court; a database of references to cases in secondary legal literature, Oikeuskäytäntö kirjallisuudessa, with interfaces in Finnish, Swedish and English.
Supreme Court website: English-language summaries of selected cases.
Supreme Administrative Court website: English-language summaries of selected cases.
Norway
Lovdata: legislation as amended; translated legislation; Norsk lovtidende (the Norwegian official gazette); all reasoned decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, 2008 onwards; decisions of the district courts and land consolidation courts, 2016 onwards; some judgments in English.
Supreme Court: cases from 2008 onwards and case summaries from 2000 to 2007; some cases are available in English.
Sweden
Swedish Parliament website: some translated legislation; preparatory legislative material, in the Documents and Laws database.
Swedish Courts (Sveriges Domstolar) has a case database covering the Supreme Court, Supreme Administrative Court, courts of appeal, and other superior courts; it consists mainly of case summaries, but has full judgments from 3 March 2025 onwards.
Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen): summaries of the court's decisions from 1981 onwards; full judgments from 2023 onwards; selected decisions in English. Cases are also available on the websites of other courts.
Swedish Arbitration Portal: arbitral decisions by Swedish courts, in English as well as Swedish.