Human Rights Research

International Human Rights Law treaty-based, amorphous treaties can be universal, or regional (e.g., OAS, EU, AU) topical (e.g., torture, women’s rights) humanitarian law; international criminal law

Challenges of HR research Lack of commercial publications (case reporters, digests) Many possible sources of law Language barriers Lack of documentation on human rights violations

HR research strategies importance of internet sources value of secondary sources (electronic or paper) Define your topic country or region time period group

One approach Use secondary materials to identify relevant treaty or treaties Is your country of interest a party? Any RUDs? What body “enforces” the treaty? What documents does the body produce?

Alternative approaches Search law review articles for a recent treatment of your subject Find a bibliography on your topic Search library catalogs for books on your topic Search the web for an NGO that works on your topic

Asylum law as context for US human rights work most likely point of contact with HR law many sources of information country reports news stories IGO, NGO documents expert witnesses foreign laws

Example: Convention against Torture US sources of law: Federal statute and regulations Administrative decisions Case law Best approach: Immigration law treatise

More on CAT research Beyond US sources: CAT Country reports General comments States parties’ reports to CAT CAT jurisprudence (Communications) Country reports Other NGO documents news stories experts

CAT website (part of OHCHR site)

OHCHR search functions basic search works like Google Treaty Bodies search is useful for some tasks, like finding state party reports From home page, pick Treaty Bodies From TB page, pick Treaty Body Document Search

OHCHR Charter Bodies search

Another tool for HR searching: REFWORLD Advanced Search

Country reports

Other relevant sources NGO topical reports News stories Foreign laws Expert witnesses

Council of Europe strongest human rights power ECHR “constitutional court for civil and political rights” in Europe documentation at HUDOC

Inter-American system developed by OAS two legal sources OAS Charter Am. Convention on Human Rights two main bodies Inter-American Commission Inter-American Court

I-A Court jurisprudence

IACHR case reports

African system African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (very new; may end up as the African Court of Justice and Human Rights.) documentation is scarce

African system (con’t)

2012 best source for jurisprudence WorldLII International Courts & Tribunals Collection