Now in its second edition, the Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law offers “a general readership with easy accessible articles on which stock is taken of present-day comparative law scholarship” (p. xvi). Editor Jan M. Smits has sought to make the encyclopedia serve readers “as a first entry into a field of law, a specific topic, or a legal system” (p. xvii).
The encyclopedia possesses an alphabetical-based organization that centers on the following four main types of topical themes: Collections of Articles on Specific Areas of the Law; Topics Dealing with the Method of Questioning in Comparative Law; Common Law as Practiced in American and Various International Legal Systems; and Reports on the Legal Systems of Specific Countries (p. xvi). The encyclopedia provides of a total of 76 articles written over 1,000 pages that include an index section, contents section, and contributors section. The latter helpfully highlights the respective area of expertise each contributing author possesses so that a reader may get an understanding of the background topic of each article.
Smits breaks the encyclopedia's themes into chapters that exist in either an article or periodical format. The chapters fall in line with one of the four aforementioned topical themes. Consequently, the chapters serve readers by providing a structure that helps give them a thorough understanding of a particular area of law. For instance, the first chapter in the encyclopedia, Accident Compensation, sets the stage of the layout and organization of the other articles. The periodical format gives an introduction and scope to the legal topic, sections relating to the various aspects of the legal topic, and in some cases outlooks, conclusions, and synopses to conclude each chapter. Smits also provides an extensive bibliography for each chapter in the encyclopedia.
Readers will find many of the chapter/article titles with an asterisk next to them. The asterisk leads readers to a See Also note at the bottom of that page. For instance, when readers see the aforementioned example Accident Compensation*, the see also section will provide notes relating to American Law (United States), Tort Law, Insurance Law, Damages (relating to Torts) Law, and Social Security Law. This particular note serves readers as it helps them see the relation of Accident Compensation with other areas of the law that this chapter highlights. Also, the notes help readers get acclimated with related legal terminology.
The Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law represents the end result of an international collaboration of authors through an international-based publishing company. Thus, readers will find variations to the spelling of words and phrasing of sentences beyond the rules of American grammatical mechanics, but this does not make this book difficult for users. Other reference sources on comparative law have organized this topic by theme, such as The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law (Reimann and Zimmermann, 2008) that utilizes themes as an organizational base as opposed to organizing articles in an alphabetical fashion. The encyclopedia will serve as a reliable reference source that will benefit reference collections in various types of libraries: public, academic, general law, and academic law.
