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Researching International Human Rights
Getting Started ©

by Judith Gire, Library Director

Hierarchy of Sources of International Law

1. International Conventions/Treaties
2. International Custom as Evidence of a General Practice Accepted as Law
3. General Principles of Law Recognized by Civilized Nations
4. Judicial decisions and teachings of the most highly qualified publicists
   
   Source:Article 38 International Court of Justice Statute

Good Starting Places

Electronic Research Guides

• American Society of International Law (ASIL) Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law Section on Human Rights provides step-by-step outline of online sources for international human rights research. Brilliant place to begin.
  • http://www.asil.org/resource/humrts1.htm
• Rights International Research Guide prepared by the Center for International Human Rights Law, Inc.
  • http://www.rightsinternational.org/links.html
• Human Rights Research: Getting started Online prepared by Harvard Law School Library
  • http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/services/research/guides/international/human_rights.php
• UN Documentation: Research Guide: Human Rights
  • http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/spechr.htm
• University of Minnesota 's Human Rights Library Links
  • http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links/links.htm

Library Catalogs

• Check for treatise material by leading authorities for background material, scholarly examination, and
  
• Most international law treatises are classified in JX and KZ .
• Subject headings for International Human Rights include:
  
  • HUMAN RIGHTS
  • CIVIL RIGHTS (INTERNATIONAL LAW)
  • Add geographical subdivisions
  • Search by topic or group, e.g. ASYLUM, RIGHT OF; WOMEN'S RIGHTS
• MELcat
  Online catalog of all Pierce Law Library holdings
• NELLCO Online Catalogs
  • Includes online catalogs of member libraries of the New -England Law Library Consortium including Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Penn, N.Y.U.
• Search individual member catalogs or search combinations simultaneously
• http://www.nellco.org/index.cfm?page=catalog
• See Barry Shanks to Interlibrary Loan items not held by Pierce Law

Periodical Articles

• Especially good for current topics and citations to relevant sources.
• Access articles on human rights topics through:
  • *LegalTrac
  • LRI on LexisNexis and Westlaw
  • *Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
• Check Pierce Law Library web site link to Journals to access periodical articles available to Pierce Law patrons
• See Barry Shanks to Interlibrary Loan articles not available

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

• Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law
• Encyclopedia of Public International Law
• Restatement (Third) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. 1987
  Unofficial, but highly respected summary of U.S. law and practice relating to international law and foreign relations.

Sources of Human Rights Instruments

NGO (nongovernmental organization) Treaties

• Check NGO web site or web sites with compilations of treaties for text
• Check site for status of the treaty
• Check site for any reservations or declarations on the treaty

Examples:

• International Labour Organization (ILO)
  • http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/convdisp1.htm
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
  
  • http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home
• Council of Europe (COE)
  • http://conventions.coe.int/
• Organization of African Unity (OAU)
  • http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/documents/treaties/treaties.htm
• Organization of American States (OAS)
  • http://www.oas.org/dil/treaties_and_agreements.htm
• United Nations Human Rights
  • Web site for United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is the most complete web site for UN human rights action.
  • First place to check for UN human rights documents
    
  • http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx
• United Nations Treaty Series
• Access to full-text of all treaties published in the United Nations Treaty Series
• http://0-untreaty.un.org.cardcatalog.piercelaw.edu/
  
• University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
  • University of Minnesota Human Rights Library accesses many of the most important international human rights treaties
  • When possible links to authoritative ratification information
  • http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts
• United States Treaties 1783-
  • Fee-based web site including full-text of all U.S. treaties and international agreements since 1783 that are in force.
  • http://0-www.oceanalaw.com.cardcatalog.piercelaw.edu/gateway/main_account_ip.asp?

Web Sites for Treaty Status

• Important to locate status of treaty
• Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General
  • United Nations Treaty Collection provides status of each treaty deposited with the Secretary as well as ratifications and reservations
  • http://0-untreaty.un.org.cardcatalog.piercelaw.edu/
    
• Treaty Body Database
  • Treaty Body Database monitors implementation of principal international human rights treaties including full-text of treaty and status
  • http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf
    
• ASIL Treaty Page
  • ASIL Treaty Page links to status and ratification information for treaties. Also includes declarations and reservations for some treaties.
  • http://www.asil.org/resource/treaty1.htm
• Department of State
  • Department of State web site has Treaties in Force and Treaty Actions links to check to see if a U.S. treaty is still in force.
  • http://www.state.gov; http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/treaties/2007/index.htm; http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/c3428.htm

Case Law

• Limited electronic access to international adjudication
• Check relevant NGO web sites or online collections of case law
• INTERIGHTS Human Rights Case Law Database
  • International Centre for the legal protection of human rights case law databases include summaries from significant human rights decisions from domestic commonwealth courts and tribunals applying human rights laws.
  • http://www.interights.org/database-search/index.htm
• International Court of Justice
  • International Court of Justice web site includes reports of this most significant adjudication in international law since 1947. Westlaw also provides all ICJ opinions in the INT-ICJ database.
  • http://www.icj-cij.org/
• International Law in Domestic Courts
  • Features domestic law cases in international law from over 80 jurisdictions. Includes full text of judgments in original language and translations of key passages into English.
  • http://0-ildc.oxfordlawreports.com.cardcatalog.piercelaw.edu/

Country Reports and Information

• Document human rights conditions in various countries
• ASIL
  • Check the links to Country Reports in the ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Human Rights
  • http://www.asil.org/resource/humrts1.htm
• U.S. Department of State Country Reports
  • Check for human rights practices
  • http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/
• Jurist
  • Check Jurist for current legal news around the world including country by country access
  • http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/index.htm
• Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Check for information on human rights by country
  • http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/Pages/humanrightsintheworld.aspx

©2004-2008 Franklin Pierce Law Center Library, Judith Gire. All rights reserved.