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.
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.
Some subject searches to use in SOLO include:
Criminal law
Criminal procedure
Due process of law
Fair trial
Criminal justice, Administration of
Criminal Liability
Prisons
Punishment
Victims of Crimes
To most of the above you may wish to add a jurisdiction/geographic filter. For English law, use England - then to make sure you don't miss anything try the same subject but with Great Britain.
For those wishing to learn more about using SOLO, we recommend the following:
When you are studying English criminal law, most of the books of interest to you will be shelved on Level 2, the entrance level to the Law Bod.
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 majority of ciminal law books are on open shelf on Level 2, in the book cases across the Reading Room from the Enquiry Desk. Please ask for directions, librarians will be happy to show you where.
Ashworth's Principles of Criminal Law by 
Human Rights in Criminal Proceedings by Cold start research?
Halsbury's Laws is an authoritative encyclopaedia of law in the England and Wales. Volumes 25 to 28 (5th ed) will give you an overview of English criminal law, while the footnotes will direct you to the most important cases, legislation and commentary in that area. The print volumes are at KZ1 in the main Reading Room. Use the Cumulative Supplement to check for any new developments in the law since the volume was printed.
OU members can access Halsbury's Laws electronically via Lexis + UK
Shelf browsing on Level 2
KM 500 – KM 565 Criminal law
KM 570 - KM 690 Criminal procedure
Please attention After the books on the criminal law in England & Wales are shelved books on the topic from other jurisdictions. If the third line of the shelf mark is A8 the work will be on Australian criminal law or procedure, C1 Canadian, I5 Ireland, N4 New Zealand, S3 is Scotland, finally U4 is United States of America.
Crime, Reason and History by 
Criminal Law Reform Now 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 book should have a shelf mark beginning Cw Gen. This collection is also on Level 2, but separate from General.
As the collection is being moved over to the Moys Legal Classification scheme, you may find some titles with shelf marks beginning KB. These too are shelved on Level 2.
Please ask at the Enquiry Desk on Level 2 if you are having difficulty finding your way round our collection!
The Handbook of Comparative Criminal Law by 
Comparative Criminal Law : development, aims, methods by 
Criminalizing Intimate Image Abuse: A Comparative Perspective 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 Jurisp (short for jurisprudence) where we shelve books on legal philosophy and theory. Within this section the books are arranged by the last name of author or editor.
As the Law Library moves to the Moys Classification Scheme, you may find legal philosophy books with shelf marks beginning KA .
KA titles are probably described on SOLO as being in the Law Reserve Collection. Please ask for these books at the Law Enquiry Desk - and remember to bring your University or Bodleian Reader's card with you, as these heavily used 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.
KA books not held in the Law Reserve collection are on Level 2 - but a few shelves away from those with shelf marks beginning Jurisp.
The Enquiry Desk on Level 2 is also the place to come if you are having any difficulties finding the books you need: we will be happy to help!
Philosophical Foundations of Criminal Law by 
The Ends of Harm: the moral foundations of criminal law by The Bodleian Law Library has the research collection for criminology. It is the Bodleian Social Science Library which provides the Reading List materials for students on the MSc Criminology programme. The Bodleian Social Science Library has a lending collection, while the Law Bod's collection is reference only and may not be borrowed.
SOLO searches may sometimes reveal that the criminology book you wish to read is in a location called the Law Library Reserve Collection. The Reserve Collection is on Level 2 but is shelved in a discrete run. Please ask at the Enquiry Desk for directions when you are next in the Law Library.
Note. The books in the Reserve Collection are available to all categories of readers, not just those on the particular course.
The Oxford handbook of criminology by 
The Oxford Handbook of Criminology by On Level 3, the level above that at which you enter the Law Library, an area of the open shelf collection has books with shelf marks beginning Crim, short for criminology.
The collection is arranged in broad topics first, then alphabetically by author/editor's last name within each topic. The scheme was devised in the 1960 so we ask for your understanding if it is a bit old-fashioned.
We have embarked on a project to change this Criminology collection over to the special legal classification system called Moys. This will mean that the shelf marks will change to beginning KM. For the moment, as of 2022, if there is a book with a shelf mark beginning KM700 to KM900 please go to Level 2, the entrance level to the library.
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 loan service.