Oxford Reports on International Law Online and Justis International Law Reports Online are good web products for international law research. The advantages of Oxford Reports on International Law Online over Justis International Law Reports Online are the commentaries it adds to each case, its current awareness page, and the subject grouping of the international law decisions into five categories (e.g., international courts, criminal law, human rights, domestic courts, and investment claims). Justis has few commentaries added directly to its caselaw unless the case is linked to a related article. Both have equivalent features like headnotes, case summaries, citators, search engines, subject search outlines, navigation tools, and delivery options. Justis has better historical coverage, but Oxford is more current. Oxford International has over 400 domestic cases since 2000, whereas Justis International Law Reports Online has fewer than 60.
Oxford Reports on International Law has hundreds more current criminal cases, human rights cases, and investment cases than Justis International. Oxford translates key parts of all non-English decisions, where Justis translates fewer cases and those are much older. Justis has interactive tutorials while Oxford does not. A new edition of the Max Planck Encyclopedia for Public International Law is cross-searchable and includes nearly 600 of an eventual 1,700 new articles that are not available in print until 2011.
Along with case decisions, Oxford Reports adds commentary that is edited and collated by experts. The commentary is not necessarily treatise-level analysis that some of us are accustomed to when using Anglo-American law books; rather it looks much like footnote commentary that is helpful but not critical to the understanding of the case or context.
The Oxford Reports include: a headnote, a summary of facts and judicial holding, a full-text of the opinion of the court (English translation if needed), a commentary from scholars, and key passages of non-English decisions that have just been published. The same is provided by Justis but not to the same number of cases. All reported decisions are linked to the Oxford Law Citator. The data provider is Oxford University Press. Justis uses JustCite for its Citator.
Oxford Reports on International Law Online covers international law as applied in the domestic courts of 70 jurisdictions. It currently reports on countries from every continent in the world and continues to add new reporters and new jurisdictions. Oxford has hundreds more criminal cases, human rights cases, and investment cases. It also translates key parts of all non-English decisions. Justis translates fewer cases into English.
Oxford University Press has focused on relevant cases from the year 2000 to the present for each jurisdiction. It plans to work back through the decisions of earlier years. Oxford Reports covers caselaw not only from nation states, but from certain territorial entities that are not generally classified as nation states. This is done because judicial decisions of such territorial entities can be of interest to international lawyers, as recognized by the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. I found some caselaw that goes back as far as 1900.
You can search the whole Oxford Reports database with the Quick Search, Advanced Search, or Subject Search. Alternatively, you can view reports by discrete subject area or date by using a box on the left-hand side of the computer screen or with the links on the navigation bar. This is similar although not identical to Justis. Both Oxford Reports and Justis International provide English translations of cases. Oxford offers a PDF option for its international reports. Justis does not provide a PDF option at this time for its new international collection although most of its other decisions and instruments in Justis’ Full Text (not part of the International Law Reports subscription) are available in PDF.
On November 3, 2008, Justis announced its new International Law Reports Online. It covers all significant cases of public international law from 1919 onwards, and I found other cases as far back as 1902. The data provider is Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. Justis International appears to have better historical coverage than Oxford Reports, but Oxford Reports is more current. Oxford Reports is adding cases every month, whereas Justis adds content four times a year.
Justis is best known for its comprehensive Justis Full Text product, which includes over nine centuries of UK and Irish Primary Case Law, UK and Irish Specialist Case Law, UK Statute Law, European Law, and Business Law Reports. However, Justis International Law Reports Online is a separate subscription from the Justis Full Text product.
Justis does not provide the International Law Reports Online in PDF. In contrast, Oxford Reports does provide a PDF option. Justis International Law Reports also provides a headnote, a case summary, and related articles to its reported cases. Justis uses JustCite as its Citator, and an outline feature almost identical to LexisNexis is used to quickly view parts of a case. Document navigation, print, save, email, and interactive tutorial features are among the Justis International Law Reports Online options.
In conclusion, both international law reports are very good online products. Justis has a strong historical product, great navigation tools, and has a good interactive tutorial and Citator. Oxford appears more current, provides more analysis for its content, and also has great navigation tools and a good Citator. Both have excellent publishers behind their products. Both publishers have been offering special discount incentive plans for new subscribers of their international law reports.