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 (lawref@uwyo.edu).
Adopted in 1948 by the U.N. General Assembly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml) 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.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Introduction.aspx.
The following table outlines the seven core international human rights treaties and their monitoring bodies. Supplemental optional protocol are listed as well.
|
Treaty |
Date
|
Monitoring Body |
| Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) |
21 Dec 1965
|
|
|
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) |
16 Dec 1966 |
|
|
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) |
16 Dec 1966
|
|
|
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) |
18 Dec 1979 |
|
|
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) |
10 Dec 1984 |
|
|
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) |
20 Nov 1989 |
|
|
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW) |
18 Dec 1990
|
|
|
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR-OP1) |
16 Dec 1966
|
|
|
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (ICCPR-OP2) |
15 Dec 1989 |
|
|
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (OP-CEDAW) |
10 Dec 1999 |
|
|
Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OP-CRC-AC) |
25 May 2000
|
|
|
Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OP-2CRC-SC) |
25 May 2000 |
|
|
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OP-CAT) |
18 Dec 2002
|
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.
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
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 https://sslvpn.uwyo.edu/commonwealth-and-international-law-database/,DanaInfo=www.interights.org+index.html
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/
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 Law 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
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/Law/lib/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
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 the Law 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- )
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 Watch, http://www.hrw.org/
Available in multiple languages, the Human Rights Watch site lists relevant news by county, region, or issue.
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/library
Freedom House, Freedom in the World (2002- ), http://www.freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-world
Human Rights Watch, World Report (1989- ), http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2006/01/17/world-report-2006
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/pages/49c3646c4b8.html
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/
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/en/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/
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
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.
08/09
