Use the tabs above to understand how the Law Bod's collection is arranged. There is an Enquiry Desk on Level 2, just as you enter the main Reading Room: please do come and have a word if you are having any difficulty in using the library.
Looking for a Reading List title?
When you search SOLO for books on your Oxford Law Faculty Reading List you may find that the location is shown as Law Library Reserve Collection. Books in this collection must be asked for at the Enquiry Desk on Level 2. Please remember to bring your Oxford University Card or your Bodleian Reader's Card when you come to the Desk. There is no time limit (except closing time!) - but we do ask that you return them to the Enquiry Desk as soon as possible after you have finished consulting them as other readers may be waiting!
Note. The books in the Reserve Collection are available to all categories of readers, not just those on the particular course.
The Law Library's collection is fully catalogued on SOLO, Oxford University's online resource discovery tool.
Suggested subject searches include:
constitutional law
constitutional law - economic aspects
constitutional law - social aspects
constitutional history
public law
separation of powers
rule of law
civil rights
Legitimacy of governments
social justice
social contract
theory of justice
Law -- Political aspects
Public law -- Political aspects
Government accountability
To these you could add the name of a jurisdiction (eg France) to reflect your particular interest.
To find series (such as Constitutional systems of the world) set the search filters to exact phrase + anywhere in the record.
There is a separate section in this guide for administrative law.
You don't need to do anything special to find e-books - SOLO should find them along with printed copies. E-books have a View Online link to click; print items have Find & Request link to click to find the Call number/Shelf Mark.
For those wishing to learn more about using searches, we recommend the following:
If you are studying English constitutional law, most of your reading will be shelved on Level 2, the entrance level to the Law Bod.
Look out for the collection with shelf marks beginning KM1 to KM300. For more details please see Shelf Arrangement tab in this box.
Increasingly, new books are being purchased as ebooks only. These normally require an Oxford SSO for remote access (if you are not on the University network, Bodleian Libraries Wifi, nor using a VPN on your laptop). If you sign into SOLO with your Oxford SSO before launching any searches this should cut down the number of times you are asked for it.
Looking for a Reading List title?
When you search SOLO for books on your Reading List you may find that the location is shown as Law Library Reserve Collection. These titles are available to all categories of readers, but need to be asked for at the Law Enquiry Desk on Level 2. Please have your University or Bodleian Reader Card with you.
The Changing Constitution by Note that superseded, earlier editions are also available to readers in the secondary collection ("sec coll") on the Ground Floor. Some of the oldest editions may still have the old Bodleian shelf mark starting Cw UK - you will find these too on the Ground Floor.
Constitutional and Administrative Law by Looking for a Reading List title? Law Reserve Collection.
This is a collection of high demand books, the most heavily used books on Law Faculty reading lists when not available online. Items display the status ‘Res Books’ on SOLO and have 'Reserve Collection’ shelfmarks.
Please ask for Reserve Collection books at the Law Enquiry Desk on Level 2, the entrance level. Remember to bring your University or Bodleian Reader's card with you, as these titles are issued to you for use in the Library. You can keep reading them for the rest of day if you like - but we do ask that you return them to the Enquiry Desk as soon as possible after you have finished consulting them.
Note: The Reserve Collection books are not restricted to those readers on the particular courses.
The arrangement of constitutional law books for England is arranged by subject matter as follows. This collection is on Level 2, the entrance level to the Law Library.
KM1 Public law (general works, which may includes chapters on constitutional, administrative, criminal, and tax law)
KM31 Constitutional Law - general overviews
KM33 Constitutional Principles
KM35 Separation of Powers
KM36 Judicial Review (general and constitutional) for Judicial Review of Administrative action see KM306
KM38 Constitutional Conventions
KM42 Parliamentary Government
KM51 Unwritten Constitutions
KM53 Amendments
KM58 Church & State For Freedom of religion/conscience see KM206
KM82 Legislatures, legislative power
KM83 Legislators
KM84 Parliamentary Procedure
KM85 Parliamentary Privileges
KM111 Executive Power
KM112 Heads of State
KM114 Executive Prerogatives
KM141 Judiciary - constitutional status and powers
KM176 Migration
KM201 Civil rights, human rights
KM203 Habeas Corpus
KM204 Freedom of Speech & Expression
KM205 Freedom of Assembly
KM206 Freedom of religion/conscience
KM207 Freedom of the Press
KM208 Equal opportunities, discrimination, minorities
This is further by discrimination of either person or place eg
KM208.2 Sex discrimination
KM208.43 Racial Discrimination
KM208.431 Indigenous Peoples
KM208.432 Treaty Rights
KM209
KM209.A2 Academic Freedom
KM209.C6 Right to Counsel
KM209.I6 Freedom of Information
KM209.P7 Right of privacy
KM233 National Security
KM235 Government Departments
KM238 Committees of Enquiry, Royal Commissions
Books on English & Welsh/UK law are shelved first within each category.
Then works on the treatment of the law by other common law jurisdictions follow, country by country. The third line of the shelf mark indicates which foreign jurisdiction the book is about, using the following codes - A8 Australia, C1 Canada, I5 Ireland , N4 New Zealand, S3 Scotland, U4 United States, W1 Wales
If you are looking for works on the administrative law in other jurisdictions these will be shelved in the respective country collections: European countries are on Level 3, remaining jurisdictions on Level 1.
The European Union collection is on Level 3.
Purely theoretical works will probably have shelf marks beginning Jurisp (short for Jurisprudence or legal philosophy).
Comparative studies will have shelf marks beginning either General or Cw Gen.
All three collections are on Floor 2. All are arranged alphabetically by author/editor and are not arranged according to topic.
Subject searches to use in SOLO include:
Constitutional law - theory
Constitutionalism and democracy
Law - political aspects
Purely theoretical works in the general, open shelf collection will probably have shelf marks beginning Jurisp (short for Jurisprudence or legal philosophy). These books are shelved, alphabetically by author/editor in another section on Level 2, the entrance level to the Library.
As the Law Library moves to the Moys Classification Scheme, you may find legal philosophy books with shelf marks begiinning KA . This collection is also on Level 2 - but a few shelves away from Jurisp.
The Enquiry Desk is also on Level 2 - please come and ask if you are having any difficulties finding the books you need!
Constitutional Theory by 
The Guardian of the Constitution : Hans Kelsen and Carl Schmitt on the Limits of Constitutional Law by 
The Principles of Constitutionalism by 
The Ecological Constitution : reframing environmental law Collins, Lynda, author. by 
Women Making Constitutions by 
Researching Public Law in Common Law Systems by 
Constitutions and the Classics; Patterns of Constitutional Thought from Fortescue to Bentham by On Level 2, the level at which you enter the Law Library, an area of the open shelf collection has books with shelf marks beginning General.
This is where you will find comparative studies, and works surveying the response to legal problems in two or more jurisdictions.
If all the countries being compared are (or were) members of the Commonwealth (the voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific) the book should have a shelf mark beginning Cw Gen. This collection is also on Level 2, but separate from General.
Please ask at the Enquiry Desk on Level 2 if you are having difficulty finding your way round our collection.
The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law by 
Redefining Comparative Constitutional Law: Essays for Mark Tushnet by 
The Comparative Constitutional Foundations of Private-Public Arbitration by Useful websites
Various aspects of constitutional law are considered on other pages on this guide: content includes guidance on books in our collection.
If the Bodleian Libraries don't have the print or ebook you are looking for, you can make a recommendation by completing the form below (Oxford Single-Sign On required).
If the Bodleian Libraries don't have the book you are looking for, we may be able to source it through Oxford's inter-library request service.
There are a number of reasons why the Bodleian Libraries may be unable to provide electronic access to a resource. The ebooks guide explains some of these reasons: