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Legal Research Resources for Non-Law Students

Administrative Law

Overview

What are the main types of administrative law?

  • Administrative law is law made the executive branch, including executive branch agencies and the President or governor.
  • The President or state governor may issue executive orders that have the force of law. Presidential documents are handled separately on this guide.
  • The main type of law created by administrative agencies are regulations.
  • Regulatory agencies also hold hearings and issue decisions. 

What is the relationship between regulations and statutes? 

  • Regulations are made by executive agencies whereas statutes are created by the legislature.
  • Regulations are generally created under a grant of legislative authority. The statute that authorizes a particular regulatory scheme is known as an enabling statute.
  • Statutes are usually broadly worded and the associated regulations include the more specific nuts-and-bolts information needed to make the statutory scheme work. 
  • A properly enacted regulation has the force of law.
  • Usually when you are doing legal research, you need to read the statute and the associated regulations together. 

What are administrative agency decisions? 

  • Many administrative agencies have enforcement duties. In other words, they are responsible in the first instance for making sure that their regulations are being followed properly. 
  • Oftentimes regulatory duties will result include a hearing which may result in a written decision that discusses or interprets one or more regulations. 
  • Administrative decisions are not officially published in a single source. The agency's website may be the best place to find this sort of information. You can also try to find this information in a commercial database. At the federal level, HeinOnline contains a database of federal agency decisions.  
Research Resources:

News:

Overview

Where can you find the Federal Register free online?

What is the Federal Register?

  • It is a government publication that provides a chronological listing of proposed and new regulations, plus other information.
  • The Federal Register is published daily on federal working days.
  • It has continuous pagination throughout the year.
  • The Federal Register is a good current awareness resource. However, to find regulations in a particular subject area, you should look at the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). 
  • The Federal Register publishes federal information. The similar publication for Pennsylvania law is the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

What type of information is available in the Federal Register?

  • Federal agency regulations
  • Proposed rules and public notices
  • Executive Orders
  • Proclamations and other presidential documents

For more information: 

Additional Resource

Overview

Where can you find the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) free online?

What is the CFR?

  • The CFR is an annual codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the federal executive agencies.
  • The Federal Register is published daily on federal working days.
  • You can use the CFR to find regulations in a particular subject area.
  • Because the CFR is only published annually, be sure that you update your research using the appropriate finding aids.
  • The e-CFR, a regularly updated, but unofficial, version of the CFR is available on the govinfo website.
  • The CFR is arranged into 50 broad subject categories known as Titles. Titles are then arranged into Subchapters, Parts, and Sections.
  • The Federal Register publishes federal information. The similar publication for Pennsylvania law is the Pennsylvania Code.

For more information: 

Additional Resource

Research Guides

Other Resources

Research Guide and Agency List

Pennsylvania Bulletin

Where can you find the Pennsylvania Bulletin free online?

What is the Pennsylvania Bulletin?

  •  "The Pennsylvania Bulletin is the official gazette of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The publication serves several purposes."—Website
  • The Pennsylvania Code is state-law equivalent of the Federal Register.
  • State regulations must be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin before they may take effect.
  • A cumulative subject matter index is published quarterly.

What types of information are available in the Pennsylvania Bulletin?

  • Proposed and final regulations and other statutorily authorized documents
  • Other executive agency materials such as notices of meetings, grants, and permits Executive orders and proclamations of the Governor
  • Notices from the General Assembly
  • Proposed and final amendments to state court rules
  • Select orders from the courts of common pleas

Pennsylvania Code

Where can you find the Pennsylvania Code free online?

What is the Pennsylvania Code?     

  • "The Pennsylvania Code is the official codification of rules and regulations issued by Commonwealth agencies and other statutorily authorized documents."--Website
  • The Pennsylvania Code is state-law equivalent of the Code of Federal Regulations.
  • The Pennsylvania Code is arranged by subject. It is organized into over 40 titles. These subject titles are generally based on the organization of the Pennsylvania executive agencies.  
  • Each regulation in the Pennsylvania Code is assigned a unique number by title and section.