Eastern European Law
Leiden University is home to the library of the former Institute for East European Law and Russian Studies. The library contains more than 42,500 titles, covering the jurisdiction of the Soviet Union and the former socialist countries, making it the largest collection of its kind in the Western world.
Collection
The collection of the Institute of East European Law and Russian Studies is one of the most important collections of its kind, founded in 1953 by a prominent Hungarian lawyer, Prof. Zsolt Szirmai (1903-1973). In the Western world, its significance can only be matched by the collection of the Library of Congress, Harvard University and Yale University (United States) and that of the universities of Cologne, Hamburg and Munich (Germany). The collection's focus lies with primary sources, such as gazettes, public journals and case law, but also includes secondary sources such as legal literature.
The collection spans the entire jurisdiction of the Soviet Union and the former socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. In 1989 and the years that followed, the world changed considerably: the DDR ceased to exist, the Soviet Union collapsed, Czecho-Slovakia broke up and Yugoslavia fell apart in a series of bloody wars.
Since 1989 the main focus has shifted to the Russian Federation, yet at the same time making sure that the most important relevant primary and secondary sources of other states in Central and Eastern Europe were not forgotten. In 2006 the collection covered the legal systems of 27 countries, holding more than 42,500 titles, approximately 250 current journals and a number of databases on CD-ROM.
Additionally, the collection also includes a number of important historical collections on microfiche:
- A complete collection of Imperial Russian laws, from the period of the reign of Peter the Great up to Tsar Nicholas II
- The most important Russian legal journals from the 19th century
More information
You can search the catalogue of the Instititue of East European Law and Russian Studies using the online electronic catalogues of the Leiden University Libraries. The collection is maintained by a special librarian, Ms Joke Bakker, LL.M MA.
