University of Wyoming
George William Hopper Law Library
Researching International Human Rights Law
Introduction
This research guide will first introduce the primary instruments of international human rights law including declarations, treaties, reports, and case law. Next the guide will list relevant treatises, databases, and law reviews available from the George W. Hopper Law Library. Finally, current awareness tools, country reports, relevant organizations, and resources for further research will be covered. Please feel comfortable asking for assistance in person at the reference office, by phone (766-5737), or by email (tplumb@uwyo.edu).
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Adopted in 1948 by the U.N. General Assembly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html) outlines the fundamental rights inherent to all people. In its thirty articles, the document expresses many basic human rights including the rights to life, liberty and security of person, the right to marry and to form a family, the right to own property, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right to peaceful assembly, the right to work in favorable conditions, the right to rest and leisure, the right to a standard of living, and the right to education. In addition all people have the freedoms from torture or from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is available in over three hundred languages from http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/index.htm.
International Human Rights Treaties
The following table outlines the seven core international human rights treaties and their monitoring bodies. Supplemental optional protocol are listed as well.
Locating Treaty Reports and Other Documents
An important part of human rights research is the identification of documents required to be produced by treaty parties. State parties must report progress through observations and commentaries. These observations and commentaries may be found using one of the following resources.
Bayefsky.com / The United Nations Human Rights Treaties, http://www.bayefsky.com/bycategory.php
This site leads you not only to the text and amendments of human rights treaties, but also to relevant supporting documents. The researcher will find ratifications, reservations, declarations, objections and derogations, reporting history, state reports, lists of issues, summary records, and concluding observations. The database is searchable by state, category, or subject matter.
United Nations Document System, http://documents.un.org/
The Official Document System (ODS) is available in multiple languages and covers all types of official United Nations documentation since 1993. The ODS also provides access to the resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 onwards. A simple, advanced, or global search can be conducted.
U.N. Treaty Body Database, http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf
The U.N. Treaty Body database supplies the same supporting treaty documents as Bayefsky and then more. Treaty documents are given in English, French, and Spanish and can by searched by county, symbol, treaty, type or date.
Regional Human Rights Systems
In additional to the international human rights treaties, there are regional human rights systems as well.
Africa: African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Banjul Charter), http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/z1afchar.htm
Americas: American Convention on Human Rights, http://www.cidh.org/Basicos/English/Basic3.American%20Convention.htm
Europe: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=005&CM=8&DF=4/25/2006&CL=ENG
Locating Case Law
International courts, national courts, commissions and treaty bodies all hear human rights cases. There are several print reporters specifically publishing international human rights case law, though our library does not subscribe to these titles. Our access to international human rights case law will be limited to electronic resources.
Lexis, http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/
Available to law school students, Lexis has a database specific to human rights case law. To access the database, click on Area of Law – by Topic, then International Law, and select Human Rights Cases. This database provides transcripts of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights from 1960 and Butterworths Human Rights Cases from 1996 covering landmark decisions from international, European and English courts and tribunals.
Westlaw, http://lawschool.westlaw.com
With a password, Westlaw offers human rights case law searching as well. Click on Directory and then run a search for “Human Rights Law Reports.” Available titles include Human Rights Law Reports (European Union and European Economic Community cases since 1999) and the European Human Rights Reports (European Court of Human Rights and selected reports from the European Commission of Human Rights since 1979).
Fortunately, many courts and commissions offer case law freely and directly from their websites.
Commonwealth and International Human Rights Case Law Database
http://www.interights.org/database-search/
European Court of Human Rights / European Commission of Human Rights,
http://www.echr.coe.int/echr
HUDOC is the name for the European Court of
Human Rights Portal which is a database that provides free online access
to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, the European
Commission of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights / Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights,
http://www.corteidh.or.cr/casos.cfm (cases since
1987)
http://cidh.org/casos.eng.htm (cases since 1974)
Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Case
Law Database
http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/Dochome.nsf?Open
SAFLII (South African Legal Information Institute)
http://www.saflii.org/
U.N. Committee Against Torture,
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf
(select CAT, then jurisprudence, cases since 1991)
http://www.bayefsky.com/docs.php/area/jurisprudence/node/3/treaty/
(conduct a search and limit to Jurisprudence)
U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, http://www.bayefsky.com/docs.php/area/jurisprudence/node/3/treaty/ (conduct a search and limit to Jurisprudence)
U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination,
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf
(select CERD, then jurisprudence, cases since 1988)
http://www.bayefsky.com/docs.php/area/jurisprudence/node/3/treaty/
(conduct a search and limit to
Jurisprudence)
U.N. Human Rights Committee,
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf
(select CERD, then jurisprudence, cases since 1977)
http://www.bayefsky.com/docs.php/area/jurisprudence/node/3/treaty/
(conduct a search and limit to
Jurisprudence)
World Legal Information Institute,
http://www.worldlii.org/
“In House” Treatises
These treatises, and perhaps others, are to be found on the George W. Hopper Law Library shelves. Browse through the table of contents and index of a treatise for coverage. Or consider running a search in the LegalFerret library catalog to find other pertinent titles on an issue.
The Development of Human Rights Law by the
Judges of the International Court of Justice, Shiv R. S. Bedi
Location: Treatise Room
Call Number: K 3240 .B427 2007
Future of International Human Rights,
Michael Singer
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3240.6 .S56 1997
Guide to International Human Rights Practice,
Hurst Hannum
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3240.4 .G94 2004
Location: Basement Call Number: K 3240.4 .G94 1984
Human Rights and Gender Violence : Translating
International Law into Local Justice, Sally Engle Merry
Location: Treatise Room
Call Number: HQ 1237 .M47 2006
Human Rights Handbook: A Guide to British and
American International Human Rights Organisations, Marguerite
Garling
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: JC 571 .G32 1979
Human Rights in International Relations,
David P. Forsythe
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3240 .F67 2006
International Human Rights in a Nutshell,
Thomas Buergenthal
Location: Reserve Collection Call
Number: K 3240.4 .B84 2002
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3240.4 .B84 1995
Location: Basement
Call Number: K 3240.4 .B84 1988
International Human Rights in Context: Law,
Politics, Morals: Text and Materials, Henry J. Steiner and Philip
Alston
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3240.3 .S74 1996
International Human Rights Instruments of the
United Nations (1948-1982), UNIFO Editorial Staff
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3238 .I57 1983
International Human Rights, Jack Donnelly
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: JC 571 .D753 1993
International Human Rights Lexicon, Susan
Marks and Andrew Clapham
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3240 .M365 2005
International Human Rights Litigation in U.S.
Courts, Beth Stephens and Michael Ratner
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: KF 1309.5 .S74 1996
Introduction to the International Human Rights
Regime, Manfre Nowak
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3240 .N6913 2003
Invoking International Human Rights Law in
Domestic Courts, Richard B. Lillich
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: K 3240.4 .L54 1985
Making Treaties Work : Human Rights, Environment
and Arms Control, edited by Geir Ulfstein in collaboration with
Thilo Marauhn and Andreas Zimmermann
Location: Treatise Room
Call Number: KZ 1301 .M35 2007
Thematic Procedures of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights and International Law : in Search of a Sense
of Community, Jeroen Gutter
Location: Treatise Room
Call Number: K 3241 .G88 2006
Toward a Theory of Human Rights : Religion, Law,
Courts, Michael J. Perry
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: JC 571.P4215 2007 ON ORDER 12/07
United States and the United Nations Treaty on
Racial Discrimination: a Report for the Panel on International Human
Rights Law and Its Implementation, Nathaniel L. Nathanson and
Egon Schwelb
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: JZ 5080 .N38 1975
Electronic Resources
The library has access to the following subscription databases which can be used for researching international human rights law. One’s first instinct might be to head straight to Lexis or Westlaw, but note that these databases generally do not include non-U.S. journals and therefore may not include non-U.S. perspectives. Access information for these databases is noted.
CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Organization) http://foreignlawguide.com/
Foreign Law Guide, (access database campus wide, full text) http://foreignlawguide.com/
Hein Online - Foreign and International Law, (access database campus wide, full text) http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Index?collection=intyb
Human Rights Documents Online, (access database campus wide, full text) http://hrd.idcpublishers.info/
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (access database from three law library reference computers, may link to full text) http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/lawlib/databases.asp
Legal Scholarship Network (access database through
the law library)
http://www.ssrn.com/lsn/index.html
United Nations Treaty Collection, (access database
campus wide, full text)
http://untreaty.un.org/English/treaty.asp
Women's Studies International (access database campus
wide, full text)
http://www-lib.uwyo.edu/find/subject.cfm?alpha=W
“In-House” Law Reviews
Curious as to which human rights journals the library subscribes? This list includes journals within our law reviews room on the second floor of the library (physical locations identified) as well as journals included in our Hein Online database. To access Hein Online directly, visit http://www.heinonline.org/. Searching for a journal in our LegalFerret library catalog will directly link you to the relevant title within Hein Online as well.
African human rights law journal
Location: Hein Online
Asia-Pacific journal on human rights and the law
Location: Hein Online
Buffalo human rights law review
Location: Hein Online
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-7] V.4 (1998- )
The Buffalo journal of international law
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-7] V.1-3 (1994-97)
Canadian human rights yearbook
Location: Hein Online
Columbia human rights law review
Location: Hein Online
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-10] V.4 (1972- )
Columbia survey of human rights law
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-11] V.1-3 (1967-71)
Country reports on human rights practices
Location: Microform Cabinet
Call Number: Y 4.IN 8/16-15:
The East African journal of human rights and
democracy
Location: Hein Online
Harvard human rights journal
Location: Hein Online
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-17] V.13 (1990- )
Harvard human rights yearbook
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-17] V.1-2 (1988-1989)
Human rights
Location: Hein Online
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-18] V.1 (1970- )
Human rights case digest
Location: Hein Online
Human rights law journal: HRLJ.
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-18] V.1 (1980- )
Human rights law review
Location: Hein Online
Human rights quarterly
Location: Hein Online
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-18] V.5-22 (1983-2000)
Intercultural human rights law review
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-20] V.1 (2006- )
International human rights reports
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-20] V.1-9 (1994-2002)
New York Law School human rights annual
Location: Law
Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-N-24] V.1-5 (1983-88)
New York Law School journal of human rights /
Journal of human rights
Location: Hein Online
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-S-24] V.5-19 (1987-2003)
Northwestern University journal of international
human rights
Location: Hein Online
South African human rights yearbook
Location: Hein Online
South African journal on human rights
Location: Hein Online
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-S-16] V.1-12 (1985-96)
Yale human rights & development law journal
Location: Law Reviews Room
Call Number: [S-S-3] V.1 (1998- )
Current Awareness
These current awareness websites may be useful in keeping up with international human rights issues and identifying possible paper topics. The information may be provided in article form, RSS feed, or podcast.
AllAfrica.com, http://allafrica.com
Those interested in African issues may run a search or browse top headlines by topic, region, or county. Current articles are available for free, but the library does not have a subscription to access archived materials.
Blawg, http://www.blawg.com/
Blawg is the search engine for legal blogs, RSS newsfeeds, and podcasts. Search a topic, such as human rights, and resources will be listed in reverse chronological order.
Jurist, http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/currentawareness/
Created by the University of Pittsburg School of Law, this site identifies hot topics in the world and provides an A-Z list of issues.
Human Rights Tools, http://www.humanrightstools.org/
The researcher can search over 300 human rights websites with one search in Huri-Search or browse the latest news headlines. Another option is to sign up for their free e-mail newsletter.
Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/
Available in multiple languages, the Human Rights Watch site lists relevant news by county, region, or issue. Connect to RSS feeds from http://www.hrw.org/rsslist/.
Country Reports
To locate information on human rights conditions in specific countries, consider reading through country reports made available by these organizations and government bodies.
Amnesty International, Reports (1993-), http://www.amnesty.org/en/research
Freedom House, Freedom in the World (2002- ), http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=15&year=2006
Human Rights Watch, World Report (1989- ), http://hrw.org/wr2k6/
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (various country reports from 1962- ), http://www.cidh.oas.org/publi.eng.htm
International Committee of the Red Cross, Annual Report (1994- ), http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/section_annual_report?OpenDocument
UNICEF, The State of the World's Children (1987, 1995- ), http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_pubs_su.html
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Reports (1990- ), http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), The State of the World's Refugees, (five editions, published in 2006, 2000, 1997, 1995 & 1993), http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ?id=3f098b4d4
U.S. Department of State, County Reports (1993- ), http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/c1470.htm
Annual Report of International Religious Freedom (1999- ), http://www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt/
Trafficking in Persons Report (2001- ), http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/
IGO’s and NGO’s
Inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations focusing on human rights issues may prove helpful to your research as well. Selected organizations are listed.
IGO’s:
African Union, http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/index/index.htm
Council of Europe, http://www.coe.int/
Gateway to the European Union, http://europa.eu/index_en.htm
International Labour Organization, http://www.ilo.org/
Organization of American States, http://www.oas.org/
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, http://www.osce.org/
UNESCO, http://portal.unesco.org/en/
UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency, http://www.unhcr.org/
United Nations Human Rights Page, http://www.un.org/rights/index.shtml
High Commissioner for Human Rights, http://www.ohchr.org/english/
U.N. Human Rights Council, http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/
NGO’s:
Amnesty International, http://www.amnesty.org/
Human Rights First (formerly Lawyers Committee for Human Rights), http://www.humanrightsfirst.org
Human Rights Internet, http://www.hri.ca/
Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/
International Committee of the Red Cross, http://www.icrc.org/eng
US Human Rights Network, http://www.ushrnetwork.org/
Links to Bibliographies and Guides
A plethora of bibliographies and guides to researching human rights law is available on the web. Save yourself time by starting with the list compiled by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library.
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library, Bibliographies and Guides http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/bibliog/biblios.htm
This site offers over forty guides and bibliographies, published by various institutions, linking to electronic and print resources on human rights law. Sample resources include ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Human Rights, Bibliographies on Issues in Human Rights (Univ. of Calif., Berkeley Human Rights Center), Bibliography: Human Rights in the African Context, and the International Humanitarian Law Database.
For historical research, our library does have this
multi-volume bibliography.
Human
rights bibliography: United Nations documents and publications,
1980-1990,
United
Nations Library, Geneva, in cooperation with the Centre for Human Rights
Location: Treatise Room Call
Number: Call Number: K 3236
.H863 1993
Library Assistance
If you find a reference to a perfect resource, but our library does not offer it, let us know. We’ll do our best to track it down for you using interlibrary loan. Do note that our ILL service can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
01/08
Quick Links
Borrowing Books and Interlibrary Loan
George W. Hopper
Law Library
College of Law
University of Wyoming
Dept. 3035
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071
phone: (307) 766-2210
fax: (307) 766-4044
email: tplumb@uwyo.edu
