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International Legal Instruments — Status

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There are many other sources for status information. Consult sources from the body that issued the international instrument (the UN committee, the Council of Europe, etc.). For more detailed information about status information sources on the web, see ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Human Rights and Treaties. Many of the sources listed below also contain information about reservations.

Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General (New York: United Nations, 1982-). See also the UN Treaty Collection (UCB only).

International Labour Office, Ratifications of the Fundamental Human Rights Convention and by country web site.

Bowman and Harris, Multilateral Treaties: Index and Current Status (London: Butterworths, 1984). Has a supplement, but it has not been updated in awhile.

UNHCHR, Human Rights Bodies, select the page for the treaty body; each page has ratification information linked on the left side of the page.

Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System (Washington, DC: IACHR Court, General Secretariat, Organization of American States, 1988-). More current editions on the web.

International Humanitarian Law Database: States Parties.

Council of Europe, provides status information, signatures and ratifications, and declarations and reservations.

U.S. Dept. of State, Office of the Legal Advisor, Treaties in Force: A List of Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States (Washington, DC: Office of the Legal Advisor, 1929-). Available on the web. Update this publication with Current Treaty Actions, available only on the State Dept. web site .

Wiktor, Multilateral Treaty Calendar, 1648-1995 (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1998).

Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), RATIF (by country or organization).

Journals are a good source for this kind of information. See specific human rights journals such as Human Rights Law Journal and Refugee Survey Quarterly.

This guide was prepared by Marci Hoffman, International and Foreign Law Librarian, UC Berkeley Law Library, revised January 2008.

email: webmaster-library@law.berkeley.edu Last modified on August 07, 2005.