Pacific Law Collection

About the collection

The Monash University Law Library has one of the largest collections of Pacific Island states and territories primary and secondary law materials in Australasia. It aims to maintain an up-to-date collection of the law, law-related literature and legal information of and concerning the states and territories of the Pacific island region. The Pacific island region encompasses the south and central Pacific. Specific holdings may be checked via the library catalogue.

It is hoped that the collection will encourage the study, wider understanding and deeper knowledge of the laws of the peoples of the Pacific Islands and their region, and will facilitate legal research relevant to the Pacific Island region. This may be by studies carried out in and from Monash University and in cooperation with governments, courts, legal professions, institutions for legal education and training, and law-related agencies in the region.

Materials by country include:

• statutes, constitutional documents and subordinate legislation
• law reports, unreported judgements and indexes
• government and public agency publications including reports of departments of justice, attorneys general, police and land and local government, law reform commissions, judiciary, tribunals, ombudsman
• law related journals, texts and studies
• literature relevant to legal and constitutional history, concepts and structures of government, administration of justice, sources of law, land tenure, decentralisation and local authority, de-colonisation (and, where appropriate, post-independence relationships).
• newspapers and regular news publications

Regional materials include:

• treaties, conventions and agreements
• regional law reports and collections
• publications by regional organisations
• reports and papers relating to regional activities
• literature relevant to bilateral, multilateral and other regional relationships and issues including wider international law
• academic journals, reports, conference papers, newsletters and project publications
• news magazines reporting regularly on the region

Location and access

Located on the third floor of the Law Library in the Pacific Law Room, the collection is available to users during normal Law Library opening hours. Request the key from the Loans Desk.

Requests for document supply may be made via Document Delivery Services (if eligible) or, commercially, through Monash University Library External Client Services.

Related links

See:

• PacLII, (Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute) for access to online case law and legislation, and the Pacific Island Treaty Series.
• the University of Waikato's Pacific Legal Materials for New Zealand print holdings.

For further information contact the Law Library.

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