Welcome to the International Encyclopaedia of Laws (IEL) Composed of 25 distinct reference works, and regrouping more than 1250 prominent authors of various legal expertise, the IEL provides practical information and valuable insight into both national and international legal frameworks. The IEL aims to respond to the growing need for comprehensive, up-to-date and readily available information on the most important legal disciplines in leading countries. The IEL covers each legal discipline with penetrating country-by-country monographs, which describe how each national legal system governs specific fields of law. These national monographs are supplemented, where relevant, with international or regional monographs which detail how supranational organisations may affect the field of law in question, or with monographs including an overview of the field from a comparative perspective. These monographs are drafted by experts in each relevant field. The choice of authors is conducted by the general editors and the editors with the help of other IEL authors. All IELs are available at Kluwer Law Online. http://www.IELaws.com