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Introduction to International Human Rights Research
For presentations in September 2009 to Prof. Bridget Arimond’s Human Rights Advocacy class and to staff members of the Northwestern University Journal of International Human Rights by Irene Berkey, Foreign and International Law Librarian i-berkey@law.northwestern.edu or 312-503-8477.
Substantive Introduction:
- Buergenthal, Thomas, et al., International Human Rights in a Nutshell (3rd ed., 2002) I,MON K 3240.4 .B84 2002 ON RESERVE
Research Guides:
Citation and Abbreviations Guides:
- Identifying Abbreviations and Acronyms: International and Foreign.
- Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
- Abbreviations for "English language legal publications, from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the United States, including those covering international and comparative law. A wide selection of major foreign language law publications is also included."
- The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 18th ed. Harvard Law Review Association, 2005. See Rule 20 “Foreign Materials” and Rule 21 “International Materials,” as well as Table 2 “Foreign Jurisdictions,” Table 3 “Intergovernmental Organizations,” Table 4 “Treaty Sources,” and Table 5 “Arbitral Reporters.”
R,REF KF 246 .B55 (ON RESERVE)
- Guide to Foreign and International Legal Citation. Journal of International Law and Politics, New York University, 2006.
I,REF K 89 .G85 2006
- "The Inter-American Citator: A Guide to Uniform Citation of Inter-American Sources for Writers and Practitioners." Compiled by the editors of the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review under the direction of Kristen Broyles, 37 University of Miami Inter-American Law Review 339 (2005-2006). Available in HeinOnline
I,PER K 25 .N6785
Identifying Official Hard Copy Sources for Treaties:
Electronic Full-Text Sources:
- EISIL: Electronic Information System for International Law - Authenticated full-text of primary and other materials. See especially section for International Human Rights. Note: this database links to free resources only. Also note: EISIL does not link to the United Nations Treaty Collection. However, EISIL can be used to obtain a citation to U.N.T.S. (United Nations Treaty Series). Click on the "more information" link for a document; the "legal citation" provides the U.N.T.S. citation (as well as citations to other official print sources) when available.
- HeinOnline
- Full-text PDF backfiles of law journals. Section for "International and Non-U.S. Law Journals" includes International Legal Materials (I.L.M.)
- "Treaties and Agreements Library," which includes the following sources for U.S. treaties: United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (U.S.T.); Treaties and International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.); KAV agreements; International Legal Materials (I.L.M.). Note: of these titles, the library has the following in hard copy: U.S.T. (Int 83 1952-), T.I.A.S. ( Int 83 1952a-), and I.L.M. (I,REF JX 68 .I5). It has KAV agreements in microfiche (M,MFC JX 231 .U54).
- "Foreign and International Law Resources Database," which includes the following: international yearbooks and periodicals; U.S. law digests; international tribunals/judicial decisions; other significant works related to foreign and international law.
United Nations Treaties and Documents:
U.N. Treaties
- United Nations Treaty Series
Int 82 U58 (4th floor)
- United Nations Treaty Collection provides texts of treaties registered with the United Nations, as well as treaty ratification status and the texts of reservations and declarations. Under "Status of Treaties," which links to "Status of Multilateral Treaites deposited with the Secretary-General," see Chapter IV: Human Rights. Citation to United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) is provided. To access full text PDF text of a treaty from UNTS, click on "full text/details" icon, then scroll down to "Text document(s)" for link(s) to PDF.
U. N. Documents
See Bluebook 18th ed. (Rule 21.7) "United Nations Sources," which states: "The Official Record is
the preferred source for citations, but documents drawn from the U.N. Website are acceptable." For resolutions (Rule
21.7.2), the Bluebook states: "It is proper to cite to either the Official Record or to the online version."
[However, note that the "Official Record" version of resolutions can also be found on the United Nations website.]
- United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. This web site is the single most important resource for U.N. human rights documentation. Provides the texts of human rights treaties and other human rights instruments. The page for each treaty text includes a navigational link to “Status of ratification, reservations and declarations” from the United Nations Treaty Collection. (Links to treaty texts and information can be found on the page for the relevant treaty body.) The "Human Rights Bodies" page includes links to "Charter based bodies document search" and "Treaty body document search," as well as the new "Universal Human Rights Index," described below.
- General Assembly Official Records (GAOR) (1946-1990) - Int 783 O32
Security Council Official Records (SCOR)
(1946-1985) - Int 784 O32
U. N. Documents 1986-1997 in microfiche; contact
Foreign & International Law Librarian.
- Selected U.N. Resources and Research Tools: Overview and Search Tips for
Legal Research. By Wiltrud Harms (GlobaLex).
- UNBISnet - For resolutions, search (browse) by document symbol; "search
results" list often includes session, supplement number, and document symbol of the supplement (required by
Bluebook if using "official record" source for resolutions) and it will often retrieve the resolution
as found in the official records supplement.
- United Nations Official Document System (ODS) - Documents
1992- in PDF.
A "simple search" for a resolution will search only the UN documentation database, which
contains the preliminary version only of resolutions.
For final version of resolutions, must do
"advanced search." However, this will retrieve PDF of official records supplement, but will not include
citation. For complete citation information to official records supplement, must use UNBISnet (see above).
- UN Documents page - Access to resolutions from first page is a
convenience. If using Bluebook "UN website" option--note that this page has preliminary version only.
International Courts and Tribunals
Law library website, especially the following:
Hard copy reports of human rights and international criminal courts--selected:
- The Tokyo Major War Crimes Trial
I,MON KZ 1181 .J57 1998
- Nuremburg trial material
Int 6156 (etc.) (several sets)
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights
I,MON KDZ A52I58 (etc.); annual report is at N,KAA KDZ 579 .I58A7337
- Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. Annual Report
N,KAA JC 599 A45I58
- European Court of Human Rights
N,EAA KJC 5132 .A52E88 (etc.)
- International Tribunal for Rwanda
I,MON KZ 1201 .A2I58 1999
- International Tribunal for Yugoslavia
I,MON K 5301 .A495 .J83 1999 (etc.)
- Judicial Reports / International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia = Recueils judiciaires
/ Tribunal pénal international pour l'ex-Yougoslavie
(Kluwer Law International, 1999- )
I,MON K 5301
.A47J83
- International Criminal Court
I,MON KZ 6311 .A87
- Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals
I,MON KZ 1190 1999 vols. 1-8
- Global War Crimes Tribunal Collection
I,MON KZ 1168.5 .G56 1997
- International Human Rights Reports
I,MON K 3239.23 .I58
Case Law Databases and Finding Guides:
Finding Print (hardcopy) Materials in the Library:
Browsing:
Books about the international protection of human rights in a global context or the human rights situation
in countries in more than one region of the world are usually shelved in the "location" I,MON
(3rd floor). Example of a location symbol and call number:
I,MON K 3240 .B34 2004 (The Role of Human Rights in Foreign Policy).
Many books on human
rights will be found nearby.
Books about the protection of human rights or the human rights situation in a particular country or region are shelved with
that country or region. These areas are also on the 3rd floor. Examples:
N,EAA KJC 5132 .F86 2001 (Fundamental Rights in Europe...)
N,IAA JC 599 .A36C85
2002 (Cultural Transformation and Human Rights in Africa)
N,HCP JC 599 .C6R43 2004 (Realms of Freedom in Modern China)
Books about the philosophy of rights are likely to be shelved in MON (the Anglo-American and general
collection), as are books on human rights in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand.
Within these broad shelving areas, materials relevant to human rights may be found under many different call
numbers--not only for "law," but also for subjects such as political science, criminology, and business. It
is essential to use NUcat (see below).
For a geographical approach, see the Human Rights
Browsing chart.
Periodicals that tend to include articles on these subjects are shelved in I,PER
(2nd floor), which incorporates periodicals on international, comparative, and foreign law, arranged (generally speaking)
in alphabetical order by title. Articles on human rights are also published in journals shelved in PER
(Anglo-American and general periodicals)(2nd floor). It is essential to use periodical indexes or databases
(see below) to identify articles. To ascertain the location symbol and call number for a periodical, do a
"title" or "journal title" search in NUcat. The NUcat record will also provide a link to electronic
sources for the journal, if available.
[Note: some older foreign law material is in closed shelving, and must be requested at the Circulation Desk.]
Using NUcat to Identify Books and Periodicals:
- "Guided Search"
- Keyword search can lead to Contents notes (chapter headings)
- Keyword search can lead to Subject Headings.
- "Subject" search (must use Library of Congress subject headings)
Selected LC subject
headings:
Human rights
Humanitarian law
Crimes against humanity
Criminal
jurisdiction
Criminal liability (international law)
Criminal procedure (international
law)
Genocide
International criminal courts
International offenses
War crimes
- NUcat Searching Tips
NOTE: NUcat is used to determine if the library system owns a particular periodical, but it is not used to
identify periodical articles. For periodical articles, use a periodical index/database (see below).
Indexes/Databases for Periodical Articles--Law
Indexes/Databases for Periodical Articles--Non-Law (Selective List)
Indexes/Databases for Selected Regions:
Religious Legal Systems--Indexes/Databases:
For additional indexes/databases, see the following pages of the law library's web site:
Current Awareness Sources:
[Note: for information on setting up Lexis and Westlaw alerts and RSS feeds, please see the
Research Alerts page of the law library's web site.]
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