International Human Rights Research Margaret Clark, Reference Librarian Law Research Center February, 2009

What we’ll cover… United Nations United Nations Treaties Treaties Judicial decisions Judicial decisions Country reports Country reports Non-governmental organizations Non-governmental organizations Search engines Search engines Research guides Research guides

First place to begin research

Searching by committee CHARTER DOCUMENTS DATABASE

Searching by country

Searching by country and subject

TREATY BODY DATABASE

When researching the U.N.: Documents may be more political than legal   Speeches   Statements   Letters by gov’t representatives Most important for legal research   Studies and reports   Treaties, resolutions, judgments

U.N. Research Strategies Get overview of U.N.’s involvement with your topic during the last few years. Get overview of U.N.’s involvement with your topic during the last few years.  What bodies are involved?  What documents produced?  What are the document symbols? Become familiar with bodies dealing with your topic. Become familiar with bodies dealing with your topic. Find and study any resolutions Find and study any resolutions  1 st pars. cite to earlier resolutions  Final pars. announce a plan  Are there any studies or reports cited?

Treaties United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights U.N. Treaty Collection U.N. Treaty Collection U.N. Treaty Collection U.N. Treaty Collection  U.N. Treaty Series  Texts of Recently Deposited Multilateral Treaties  Status of Multilateral Treaties Univ of Minn. Human Rights Library Univ of Minn. Human Rights Library Univ of Minn. Human Rights Library Univ of Minn. Human Rights Library EISIL EISIL EISIL Good bookmarks for Human Rights treaty research!

For recent treaty sources: International Legal Materials International Legal Materials  Lexis ILMTY  Westlaw ILM  HeinOnline

Judicial Decisions International bodies   UN bodies (ICJ, Treaty bodies)   Tribunals and international courts   Regional bodies (ECHR, IACHR, ACHPR) National courts

Tools for locating judicial decisions Secondary sources Secondary sources  “ Defining civil and political rights : the jurisprudence of the United Nations Human Rights Committee”  Judicial Process and Human Rights: Texts and summaries of international case-law  Selected Decisions of the Human Rights Committee Selected Decisions of the Human Rights Committee Selected Decisions of the Human Rights Committee

Tools for locating judicial decisions Internet sites - Individual tribunals and courts Internet sites - Individual tribunals and courts Case reporters - Print Case reporters - Print  International Human Rights Reporter  Human Rights Law Journal  International Legal Materials Case reporters – Online Case reporters – Online  International Legal Materials  Human Rights Cases (Lexis)

Tools for locating judicial decisions Digests Digests  Oxford Reports on International Law  HUDOC  International Law Reports  World Court Digests

Tools for locating judicial decisions International Law Reports (ILR)   In print only !!   Good source for full text opinions in English   Best source for finding recent decisions   ICJ   International courts and tribunals   Administrative Tribunal ILO   National Courts   Best source for older decisions (1919 to present)   KZ 199.I58 (1 st floor of Library)

Tools for locating judicial decisions ILR– Index Volumes  Treaty Index (treaties referred to in decisions reported in ILR)  By date  By subject  By title  Case Index (includes decisions of national court decisions and international tribunals)  Alphabetically  Jurisdiction

International Law Reports Treaty Index International Law Reports Treaty Index

Case Digests World Court Digest (for ICJ cases) World Court Digest (for ICJ cases) World Court Digest World Court Digest

Tools for locating judicial decisions UN treaty body tools UN treaty body tools  Treaty Body Database Treaty Body Database Treaty Body Database  Bayefsky.com  U. Minnesota’s Human Rights Library

Judicial Decisions – Treaty body database

Judicial Decisions – Bayefsky.com

Judicial decisions – Treaty bodies Jurisprudence of the treaty bodies : Jurisprudence of the treaty bodies :  “Views” (admissibility and on merits)  “Decisions” (determinations of inadmissibility)  “Opinions” (on the merits) Annual compilation of all decisions in: Annual compilation of all decisions in:  Annual report “Report of the Committee…

Country Reports Independent Experts  Country Reports by NGOs, Govts Treaty-based Bodies  State Reports  Concluding Observations / Comments Charter-based Bodies  Special Procedures – 8 Country Mandates  Universal Periodic Reviews

Country Reports by Independent Experts Specific Web sites Specific Web sites  NGO’s -- HRW; AI  Government – US State Dept; UK Home Ofc Collection of Country Reports Online Collection of Country Reports Online  REFWORLD – Country Information  ASIL Guide – Country Reports Country ReportsCountry Reports  U. Minn Human Rights Library U. Minn Human Rights Library U. Minn Human Rights Library

Country Reports by Treaty Based Bodies State Reports Concluding Observations / Comments Treaty Body web site Treaty Body web site U.N. Treaty Body Database U.N. Treaty Body Database Bayefsky.com Bayefsky.com Universal Human Rights Index Universal Human Rights Index

Country Reports – Bayefsky.com

Country Reports by Charter Based Bodies Special Procedures  OHCHR web site  Country mandates  Thematic mandates  Charter-based Bodies Database  Universal Human Rights Index

Country Reports by Charter Based Bodies Special Procedures   OHCHR web site (Countries), recent   Charter-based Bodies Database   Universal Human Rights Index Universal Periodic Reviews   UNHCHR web site   UPR.org web site

Universal Periodic Review UPR-Info.org

Nongovernmental Organizations A good place to start research (directories) A good place to start research (directories)  U of Minnesota’s list list  Bayefsky’s list list “Human Rights Documents” “Human Rights Documents” Hurisearch Hurisearch

Search Engine HURISEARCH Only search engine for human rights Only search engine for human rights Searches 3000 web sites Searches 3000 web sites Can search by language, organization, country Can search by language, organization, country Use this search engine to: Use this search engine to:  investigate human rights situation in countries  search information on an issue  search content of a human rights web site

Search Engine International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Search Engine International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Search Engine International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Search Engine International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Search Engine

Research Guides

Databases OHCHR Library OHCHR Library UN BISnet UN BISnet UN Official Document System (ODS) UN Official Document System (ODS)

Subject Listings OHCHR List of Issues OHCHR List of Issues Issues on UN Agenda Issues on UN Agenda