Constitutions of the Countries of the World Online, offered by Oxford University Press through Oceana Online, can be subscribed to as an individual database or as part of a suite of inter‐related products which includes Constitutions of Dependencies and Territories and Constitutions of the United States: National and States. This database contains the full‐text current constitutions of 190 countries in English translation. It also provides amendments and historical constitutional documents as well as lists of related documents linked through subscriptions to the other databases within the suite.
Extensive introductory notes accompanying each country file are provided primarily by research fellows of the highly regarded Max Plank Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law. This institute is also responsible for many of the English translations from the original texts.
This database has a very simple but effective interface. The menu bar tabs labelled: Document, Results, Doc/Results, Quick Search, Browse, Help, and What's New, appear consistently throughout the site. The Help section provides step‐by‐step instructions, including screen captures of the processes, which facilitate easy navigation. The What's New section highlights updates to this database as well as the entire suite of products since 2005. Users can browse country entries using an A‐Z index or locate specific documents using the quick search function. Quick search allows full text keyword or Boolean searching with options to focus results by location, scope, document type and date range, as well as by custom selection of geographic, political or economic location grouping. These custom options are very useful for quick location of all constitutional documents of affiliated countries within a grouping such as the African Union. The search is processed rapidly and results can be sorted by date or location in ascending or descending order.
Once inside the results screen, users are provided with an expanded tool bar allowing easy movement through the results list. The document details tab provides information on the origin of the document and translation as well as access to the print/save option. Documents retrieved are coded for easy identification such as yellow highlighted titles for primary constitutional document, and “H” designations for historical documents. The document excerpts option allows “in context” display of search terms in list form with up to 24 adjacent words to determine relevance. Once inside the document, instances of search terms are highlighted for easy identification.
Each constitutional document is accompanied by an extensive commentary or introductory note. These commentaries provide an overview of the evolution of constitutional change within the country with the main emphasis on the more recent history. The notes also provide context for some of the major elements of the current constitution such as fundamental rights and separation of powers. Each commentary is well referenced and selected bibliographies may be included. Amending documents as well as proclamations and decrees are also included.
A new feature in the early stage of implementation is the “source image” option which displays a copy of the original constitutional document in its language of origin. This raises the value of the database for researchers interested in examining the primary source material.
There are a variety of free online sources for locating constitutions available to the casual user. The Library of Congress, for example, provides access to many constitutions through its Nations of the World site (www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations.php) linking to a variety of external sources. Although this is a useful tool, there is neither a guarantee that links will remain active, nor that English translations will be available.
The strengths of the Constitutions of the Countries of the World product for researchers rest in the availability of all current constitutional documents in English translation, the inclusion of supplemental and historical documents and the value‐added extensive commentary on the constitutional history of each country. Another highly useful function is the ability to search by geographic, political or economic grouping. One shortcoming is the inability to download multiple documents simultaneously; however, this is a minor inconvenience. Overall, this online resource is an important tool for the study of comparative constitutional law. It is an easy to navigate and a highly efficient product.
