Researching International Human Rights Law

Table of Contents

General Sources
IGOs/ NGOs
International Legal Instruments
Case Law, Jurisprudence, Reports & Decisions
Foreign Law
Citing to International & Foreign Legal Materials
Other Relevant Resources

Researching international human rights law can be a confusing mess of treaties and documents. The materials (for the most part) are not set out in a coherent, well organized fashion. The sources of information range from recognized treaty law to more ephemeral materials from non-governmental organizations. There are a few things to keep in mind when doing human rights research:

  • the interdisciplinary nature of the topic
  • the complexity of the topic and the materials
  • the difficulty in locating and accessing materials issued by a variety of organizations.

The researcher needs to be resourceful, creative, and never become daunted by the task. Just when you are ready to give up is when you might find the needed material.

HUMAN RIGHTS GENERALLY

Bibliographies and Research Guides

There are many research guides and bibliographies on human rights generally as well as on specific countries, regions, or groups. This is just a small sampling of the books and articles available. To locate other materials on LAWCAT, use the subject search: human rights bibliography. Other more general bibliographies and research guides on international law may contain sections on human rights.

Germain's Transnational Law Research: A Guide for Attorneys (Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY: Transnational Juris, 1991-) [Loan Desk K29 .G47].

Human Rights: A Bibliography (Arthur V. Carrington ed., Huntington, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers, 2000) [on order].

Human Rights Bibliography: United Nations Documents and Publications 1980-1990 (5 vols., New York: United Nations, 1993) [UN Room, U.N.Doc ST/ LIB/ Z/ 4].

Tobin and Green, Guide to Human Rights Research (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School Human Rights Program, 1994) [K3236 .T6 1994]. Also available on the web.

Weissbrodt and Hoffman, Bibliography for Research on International Human Rights Law, 6 Minn. J. Global Trade 200 (1997). Also available on the Human Rights Library. An updated version of this guide is available as Selected Human Rights Instruments and Bibliography for Research on International Human Rights Law, 3rd ed. (Supplement to International Human Rights: Law, Policy and Process, 3rd ed.).

Web Guides:

Background and General Sources

Buergenthal, International Human Rights in a Nutshell (3d ed., St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., 2002) [Loan Desk K3240 .B84 2002].

Conde, A Handbook of International Human Rights Terminology (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999) [K3239.3 .C66 1999].

Encyclopedia of Human Rights (2nd. ed., Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1996) [Reference Desk K3239.3 .E53 1996].

For the Record: The United Nations Human Rights System (Human Rights Internet). Other information from HRI is available on their web site.

Henkin, Human Rights (New York, N.Y.: Foundation Press, 1999). [Loan Desk K3240 .H863 1999].

Human Rights in International Law: Basic Texts (2nd ed., Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, 2000) [K3238 .H856 2000].

The Human Rights of Women: International Instruments and African Experiences (London; New York: Zed Books; Austria, 2002) [K3240 .H86 2002].

International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals: Text and Materials (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) [K3240 .S74 2000].

Newman and Weissbrodt, International Human Rights: Law, Policy, and Process (3rd ed., Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson Pub., 2001) [K3240 .W45 2001].

Osmanczyk, The Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements (3rd ed., NY: Taylor & Francis, 2003) [Reference Desk KZ4968 .O84 2003].

Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (2nd ed., New York: Oceana, 2004) [Reference Desk KJ27 .E52 2004].

Rights of Women: A Guide to the Most Important United Nations Treaties on Women's Human Rights (2nd. ed., International Women's Tribune Centre, 1998) [K644 .R54 1998].

Women and International Human Rights Law (Askin and Koenig eds., Ardsley, NY: Transnational, 1999-) [K644 W64 1999].

Yearbook of the United Nations (Norwell, MA: Kluwer, 1947-) [UN Room KZ4947].

LAWCAT Searches

Listed below are selected subject searches for use in searching the online catalog, LAWCAT, for books, journals, papers, etc. in the Law Library's collection. When starting out, it is often best to do keyword searches and then identify the appropriate subject heading and then do a subject search.

civil rights--[country or region]
civil rights--international law
[group]--civil rights
human rights
human rights--[country or region]
women--legal status, laws, etc.
women's rights
married women -- legal status, laws, etc. --[country]
children (international law)
children's rights

Periodical Indexes

Many periodicals (both legal and non-legal) contain articles on a variety of human rights issues. Be sure to use indexes listed below and not just full-text sources on LEXIS and WESTLAW. For more information on researching articles, see Sources for Locating Journal Articles.

The databases listed below may only be accessed by the UC Berkeley Community. Some of these databases are available through remote access. Be sure to set the proxy settings on your computer. Once the proxy settings have been set, you will be prompted for your CALNET user id and passphrase.

Index to Legal Periodicals and Books (ILP). Contains citations from more than 820 legal periodicals from 1981 and an index to law books published since 1993 from the United States, Canada, Ireland, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Updated monthly. The print edition covers 1908 on. Also available in print [Reading Room K2 .I38 ILP] and on LEXIS and WESTLAW.

Legal Resource Index (LRI). Indexes approximately 800 legal publications from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia. It also covers law related articles from more than 1,000 additional business and general interest periodicals. Coverage begins in 1980 and is updated monthly. Also available in print as Current Law Index [Reading Room K2 .C8] and on LEXIS and WESTLAW. Also available from the Law Library's list of electronic resources as Legaltrac.

Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP). A multilingual index to articles and book reviews appearing in approximately 492 legal journals published worldwide. The print edition [Reading Room K2 .I38 IFLP] covers 1960 on and the electronic version covers 1985 to present. Available from the Law Library's list of electronic resources.

Legal Journals Index (LJI). Indexes approximately 485 journals from the UK & Europe. Coverage is from 1986 on. The print versions of this index (Legal Journals Index and European Legal Journals Index) discontinued in 1999. Legal Journals Index is available on WESTLAW.

Current Index to Legal Periodicals (CILP). Provides access to approximately 475 university legal publications and other law journals. Good way to update your research since it indexes journals 4-6 weeks before they are picked up by ILP and LRI. Available from the Law Library's list of electronic resources. CILP is also available on WESTLAW.

Public International Law (Berlin; New York: Springer-Verlag, 1975-) [K20.A1 P82]. See also the Max Planck Institute's web site.

RAVE (Research of articles and decisions in Public International Law and European Law).

Hein-On-Line, provides legal researchers with collections of the earliest legal periodicals and other legal classics that are out-of-print or hard to obtain in hardcopy (UCB only).

Other indexes that focus on law-related topics can also be of use when doing human rights research. All of these indexes are available from the list of UCB Electronic Indexes and Abstracts or the California Digital Library. For example, PAIS International (New York: Public Affairs Information Service, 1991-) [print version available in main library]. Also available on the web (UCB only).

IGOs AND NGOs CONCERNED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

There are many international organizations which focus on human rights. Some such organizations promulgate instruments and adjudicate human rights issues. Non-governmental organizations play an important role in the development of norms, institutions, and procedures for protecting human rights. A great deal of information is produced by both IGOs and NGOs. Author searches by the name of the organization will often produce a list of the reports and documents produced by the organization or try keyword searches. Many of these organizations are now supplying documents and reports via the Internet.

To locate a relevant IGO or NGO on the web, see the following web sites:

Selected Inter-Governmental Organizations

Selected Non-Governmental Organizations

There are many NGOs working in the area of human rights and related topics.

Country Reports from IGOs and NGOs

Many international organizations produce reports on the human rights conditions for various countries. Human rights activists and lawyers rely on these reports for asylum proceedings and when appearing before various treaty bodies and tribunals.

Africa Action <http://www.africaaction.org/index.php>. A good collection of information relating to many issues in Africa.

Amnesty International Report (annual, London: Amnesty International Publications, 1979- ) [KJ602.A2 A4]. Many of the reports produced by Amnesty are available on the web.

Asylumlaw.org. A site with several kinds of materials, including human rights reports on several countries by the governments of the UK and other countries. It provides resources for case support (country condition information), legal research, and links to other relevant sites. The site now includes about 800 documents on country conditions, arranged by topics and country. They can be found by browsing the documents in the Case Support section. Briefs, an expert witness database, and a discussion forum are available by registering on the site (registration is free). There is a super search which allows the researcher to search 15 human rights databases at once.

Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board, Quarterly Reports (Ottawa, Canada: Research Directorate, Documentation, Information and Research Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board, quarterly). Check out their web site.

Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (UC Hastings). Links to legal documentation and country condition information.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (annual, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977- ) [KJ604.A9 .U556]. The reports from 1993 to present are on the web. See also the State Dept.'s Annual Report on International Religious Freedom and the Trafficking in Persons Report.

Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for... (annual, New York: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights & Human Rights Watch, 1983-1996). See also In the National Interest 2001: Human Rights Policies for the Bush Administration. LCHR also has a web site.

FBIS (Foreign Broadcast Information Service) Daily Reports (Washington, D.C.: Foreign Broadcast Information Service, 1979-1996). FBIS is a microfiche collection consisting of translated broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals and government statements from nations around the globe. There is an electronic index which covers 1975-1996. The print was continued in part with FBIS Publications on CD-ROM (1997-2001) and in part by World News Connection (see below) (UCB only).

Forced Mirgration Online. Access a wide variety of documents, articles, reports regarding forced migrants worldwide. Research guides and handbooks are also available.

For the Record: The United Nations Human Rights System (Human Rights Internet). Other information from HRI is available on their web site.

Freedom in the World (annual, New York: Freedom House, 1978-) [KJ603 .F74]. The most recent edition is available on the web.

Human Rights in Development Yearbook (annual, Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1998-) [K3236.3 .H86]. Continues Human Rights in Developing Countries.

Human Rights Watch, World Report (annual, New York: Human Rights Watch, 1990-) [KJ602.A2 .H894]. The current report and much is available on the web.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Publications, including Annual Reports, Country Reports, and other publications. Many of these are available in print as well.

International Committee of the Red Cross, Annual Report (Geneva: ICRC, 1952-) [KJ711.A12 A4]. The annual reports from 1994 to present are available on the ICRC web site.

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. Search "Documents and Publications" for information by country or by topic.

International Journal of Refugee Law (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1989­ ) [KJ621.A12 I57]. Also available on the web from 1998 to present.

International Journal on Minority and Group Rights (The Hague; Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1997-).

Refugee Law Center. Provides court and legal documents, country condition information and other documentation.

Refugees (Geneva: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1984-) [UN Room KZ4974 .R445].

Refugee Survey Quarterly (Geneva : UNHCR, Centre for Documentation on Refugees, 1994-) [KJ621 .R44]. Continues Refugee Abstracts.

ReliefWeb . Contains many documents and reports on humanitarian relief and operations. Good source of news.

UNHCR, Country of Origin and Legal Information. These two collections contain national legislation (constitutional provisions, laws on citizenship, nationality, etc.) and reports on country conditions. There is also a useful collection of refugee policy documents, called RefPol.

UNHCR, State of the World's Refugees (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000) [K3230.R45 O45 2000]. The most recent edition is available on the web.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report [year] (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990- ) [UN Room KZ5103.02 .H86]. The most recent edition is available on the web.

UNICEF, The State of the World's Children (annual, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1980-). The 1997-2002 reports are available on the UNICEF web site in the Information Resources section.

U.S. Committee for Refugees. Search for refugee conditions by country or by issue. See also the Annual Assessment of Conditions Affecting Refugees by Country.

World News Connection, contains the full text summaries of non-U.S. newspaper articles, conference proceedings, radio and television broadcasts, periodicals and non-classified technical reports. See also FBIS Daily Reports above (UCB only).

Other sources to consult for information on country situations include newspapers (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, etc.) and periodical literature. In order to locate relevant periodical articles, try using a legal periodical index. Both Lexis and Westlaw have good coverage of news sources from around the world.

Online Newspapers. Provides links to newspapers from all over the world. See also Newspaper Links (select "International Newspapers").

See the subscription databases (below) for access to several resources for news and articles. Some good databases include GenderWatch, Ethnic NewsWatch, and Contemporary Women's Issues.

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL INSTRUMENTS

Sources of Instruments

Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments (New York: United Nations, 1967-) [KZ5114 .H85 2002].

International Human Rights Instruments: A Compilation of Treaties, Agreements and Declarations of Special Interest to the United States (R. Lillich ed., Buffalo, NY: Hein, 1990) [Stacks and Reference Desk KJ602.A4 I585 1990].

Council of Europe, European Convention on Human Rights: Collected Texts (Strasbourg: Council of Europe Press, 1999) [KJC5132.A35 H86 1999].

Documents of the Organization of African Unity (Gino J. Naldi ed., 1992) [KJ133.O6 D62].

Human Rights: The Inter-American System (Thomas Buergenthal and Robert E. Norris eds., Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications,1982-) [KJ604.A96 H85].

The Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe: Basic Documents, 1993-1995 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1997) [KZ6030 .C66 1997].

International Instruments of the United Nations: A Compilation of Agreements, Charters, Conventions, Declarations, Principles, Proclamations, Protocols, Treaties (1945-1995). (New York: United Nations, 1997) [UN Room KZ4957 .I57 1997].

The Raoul Wallenberg Institute Compilation of Human Rights Instruments (Goran Melander and Gudmundur Alfredsson, eds., The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1997) [KJ602.A4 R36 1997].

Other collections of basic documents on international law, such as International Law & World Order: Basic Documents (Weston ed., Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, 1994-) [Reference Desk KZ169 .I58].

There are several sites on the Internet for the full-text of human rights instruments.

Status of Instruments

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 on the Internet, 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- ) [UN KZ4992.7 .M85]. See also the UN Treaty Collection (UCB only).

Human Rights: International Instruments, Chart of Ratifications as at 31 December [year] (New York: United Nations) [UN Room].

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) [Reference Desk KJ211 .M84].

UNHCHR, Treaty Bodies Database.

Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System (Washington, DC: IACHR Court, General Secretariat, Organization of American States, 1988) [KJ 12 Ser.L V/II Z H2]. More current editions on the web.

International Humanitarian Law Database: States Parties & Signatories.

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- ) [Reference Desk KF4651 .A64]. 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) [Reference Desk KZ118 .M85 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 [KJ602.A2 H88] and Refugee Survey Quarterly [KJ621 .R44].

HUMAN RIGHTS CASE LAW, JURISPRUDENCE, REPORTS & DECISIONS

UN Treaty Bodies

Most UN committees (Human Rights Committee, Committee on the Rights of the Child, etc.) issue decisions, recommendations, views, annual reports, etc. to the General Assembly or ECOSOC. Not every committee issues all of these kinds of documents. Most of the documents listed below can be located by using the indexes to UN documents. For more detailed information about the types of documents issued by these bodies, see United Nations Documentation: Research Guide on Human Rights.

Use the following tools to locate the UN document number and date of the document. Once you have the document number and the date, use the UN microfiche (arranged chronologically) to locate the appropriate fiche.

  • AccessUN (1946-present) (UCB only)
    The best index for locating U.N. documents by keyword, author, title or U.N. symbol. Contains some full-text documents.
  • UNBISnet - UN Bibliographic Information System. Catalogue of UN publications and documentation indexed by the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöd Library and the Library of the UN Office at Geneva, and non-UN publications held in the collection of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library. Also includes voting records and index of speeches.
  • UN-I-QUE: United Nations Info Quest. Good for identifying documents for certain categories of materials.
  • United Nations Official Documents (also referred to as UN Optical Disk System) is a fully searchable electronic repository for UN materials which offers full text documents issued since 1992 along with resolutions and decisions adopted by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the Trusteeship Council since 1946. Documents are presented in image format with easy printing. This website provides us with invaluable and speedy access to UN documents. Please note that due to technical issues, please see Wiltrud Harms (in the UN Room) or Marci Hoffman for assistance.

Many of the general comments and recommendations, decisions, views, and consideration of reports of the UN treaty bodies listed below can be found on the Internet.

International Human Rights Instruments, Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Bodies (New York: United Nations, 1994-). The most current version is U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6 (available in PDF).

Some of these documents are reproduced in periodicals such as Human Rights Law Journal (Kehl am Rhein: N.P. Engel, 1980-) [KJ602.A2 H88].

For more assistance in locating UN documents, see Wiltrud Harms (in the UN Room) or Marci Hoffman.

Other Systems

Relevant LAWCAT subject headings are civil rights--cases and human rights--cases.

ILO

Official Bulletin. Series B (Geneva: International Labour Office, 1975- ). Series B contains the reports of the Freedom of Association Committee and includes cases and the committee's recommendations and conclusions.

Labour Law Documents (Geneva: International Labour Office, 1990-1995) [KJ741.I5 L45].

ILO web site. See also the Cornell Law Library ILO mirror and research guide.

European System

Author searches and subject searches are useful for finding decisions and information issued by the European Commission, the European Court, and the Council of Europe.

European Commission of Human Rights, Decisions and Reports (Strasbourg: The Commission,1975-1998) [KJ608 .E88].

European Human Rights Reports (London: European Law Center, Ltd.) [KJ607.A1 E87]. Also available on LEXIS and WESTLAW (ALL-RPTS and EHR-RPTS).

British Institute of Human Rights, Human Rights Case Digest (London: British Institute of Human Rights, 1990- ) [on order].

Council of Europe, Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1960-) [KJ602.A2 Y4].

European Court of Human Rights, Publications of the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg: Greffe de la Cour, Conseil de l'Europe). Series A (1961-1996) [KJ607.A1 A44], Series B (1960-1995) [KJ607.A1 A45] . Series A contains the official judgments and decisions and Series B contains pleadings, oral arguements and documents.. Continued by European Court of Human Rights, Recueil Des Arręts et Décisions=Reports of Judgments and Decisions (Köln: Carl Heymanns Verlag, 1996-) [KJ607.A1 A442].

Court of Justice of the European Communities, Reports of Cases Before the Court of Justice and the Court of the First Instance (Luxembourg: Court of Justice of European Community, 1954-) [KJ116.15 .R41]. Some decisions are also available on the Court's web site.

Relevant web sites:

Inter-American System

Materials from the OAS can be difficult to locate and obtain. Try author searches as well as keyword and subject searches.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Annual Report (Washington, DC: General Secretariat, Organization of American States, 1977-) [KJ 112 Ser.L V/II Z A56].

Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Annual Report (Washington, DC: General Secretariat, Organization of American States, 1981-) [KJ 112 Ser. L V/III Z A5].

Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Series A: Judgments and Opinions [KJ112 Ser. L V/III Z .S41], Series B: Pleadings, Oral Arguments and Documents [KJ112 SER. L V/III Z .S42], and Series C: Decisions and Judgments [KJ112 Ser. L V/III .S43].

Inter-American Yearbook on Human Rights (Washington, DC: General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, 1968-) [KJ602.A2 A5].

Web sites

Other Sources

For other sources search LAWCAT using the subject heading International law --cases.

Butterworths Human Rights Cases (BHRC) (London: Butterworths). Available on Lexis from 1996 on (International Law > Cases).

Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest (London: Interights, 1996-). The Commonwealth Human Rights Case Law Database is available on the Interights web site.

Human Rights Law Journal (HRLJ) (Kehl am Rhein [West Germany]; Arlington [Va.] : N.P. Engel, 1980-) [KJ602.A2 H88] .

International Human Rights Reports (IHRR) (Nottingham, U.K.: Human Rights Law Centre, Dept. of Law, University of Nottingham, 1994-) [KJ602.A2 I565].

International Legal Materials (Washington, DC: American Society of International Law, 1962-) [KJ5 .I574]. Also available on Hein Online (UCB only), LEXIS and Westlaw.

International Law Reports (London: Butterworths) [KJ313 .I61 ILR].

Web sites

Many journals reprint cases from various jurisdictions as well as international tribunals.

FOREIGN LAW

Researching international human rights often requires finding foreign law from various jurisdictions. For more information researching foreign legal systems, see the Researching Foreign and Comparative Law guide. Here are some useful starting points.

Also, a good starting point is the United Nations, Core Document Forming Part of the Reports of States Parties, U.N. Doc. HRI/Core/1/Add.[]/ (year). This document provides information on the general political structure of states, including basics of the legal system. See this example for the Republic of Korea, U.N. Doc. HRI/Core/1/Add. 125 (2003).

Constitutions

Blaustein, Albert P., Constitutions of the Countries of the World (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1971-) [BSR K44 .C755]. Also available on the web (UCB only).

Web sites:

Specific Topics

Listed below are some suggested sources for specfic topics. This is not an exhaustive list.

Reynolds and Flores, Foreign Law: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World (Littleton, CO: F.B. Rothman, 1989-) [Reference Desk K20.A1 R49]. Also available on the web (UCB only).

International Labour Office, Labour Law Documents (Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office, 1990-1995) [KJ741.I5 L45]. Updated information is available on NATLEX, see next.

NATLEX: A database of national labour law.

Annual Review of Population Law (New York: United Nations Fund for Population Activities, 1997-2000) [KJ719.A12 A55]. 1974-1996 are available electronically. Also searchable on the web .

Equality in Law Between Men and Women in the European Community
Series (Boston: M. Nijhoff Publishers, 1994-) [KJE2942 .E66 1994]. Covers many jurisdictions.

A good collection of foreign law links on a variety of topics is available on the WashLaw web site.

Guide to Foreign and International Legal Databases (NYU).

Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) (see Marci Hoffman or Reference Desk for assistance). The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) is a database of laws, regulations, and other complementary legal sources from various countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. The basic elements of this database are: (1) full texts of the documents in the official language of the country of origin; (2) summaries or abstracts in English; and (3) thesauri in English and in as many official languages as are represented in the database. The summaries or abstracts are linked electronically to the corresponding full texts. (Boalt only).

An Information Base on Equal Opportunity Employment for Women and Men.

International Digest of Health Legislation (World Health Organization).

Legislationline (ODIHR). Collection of national laws regarding human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and more.

Case Law

The Law Library has case law from many jurisdictions, both Commonwealth countries and Civil law countries. The titles listed below are just a few of the compilations that are available.

Bulletin on Constitutional Case Law (Strasbourg: Secretariat of the Venice Commission, 1993-) [K44.A12 B85].

Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest (London: Interights, 1996-). The Commonwealth Human Rights Case Law Database is available on the Interights web site. The web database provides summaries only.

International Human Rights Reports (Nottingham, UK: Human Rights Law Center, Department of Law, University of Nottingham, 1994) [KJ602.A2 I565].

International Labour Law Reports (Alphen Ann de Rijn: Sijthoff and Noordhoff, 1975-)
[KJ741.A12 I57].

International Law Reports (London: Butterworths) [KJ313 .I61 ILR].

Lexis and Westlaw have some case law from a selected countries (coverage varies).

Web sites:

CITING TO INTERNATIONAL & FOREIGN LEGAL MATERIALS

You should try to follow The Bluebook as closely as possible, but keep in mind that it is not really adequate for the materials you will be citing.

Some general rules to keep in mind:

  • Provide enough information so someone else will be able to locate what you have cited.
  • Be consistent throughout the document.
  • See for the source using the full text law review files on both Lexis and Westlaw to determine how other journals are citing to the same source.

Internet Materials, Rule 18.2, format suggestion:

[name of source], [the provider of the resource if not apparent from the URL], available at [URL] (last visited [date]).

Foreign Materials:

The Bluebook does not provide guidance for all jurisdictions. Use Rule 20 and Table 2 for some basic guidance.

International Materials:

When citing to U.N. documents, you cannot always provide all of the information as required by The Bluebook in Rule 21.7. Be sure to provide the name of the document and the U.N. document number and date. For example, International Human Rights Instruments, Recent Reporting History of States Parties, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/4/Rev.2 (2002) or United Nations World Conference on Human Rights: Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, U.N. Doc. A/CONF. 157/24 (Part 1) (1993).

OTHER RELEVANT RESOURCES

Web Sites

Subscription Databases

For remote access to some of these databases, please be sure to follow the Proxy Server Setup Instructions.

  • AccessUN (UCB only)
    Readex United Nations Index provides to access to current and retrospective (1946-present) U.N. documents and publications. Some full-text documents are available.
  • Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) (UCB only)
    Scholarly documents from leading international relations research centers. Complete texts of working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, and proceedings from conferences. Also, journal issues and books. Coverage begins in 1991.
  • Contemporary Women's Issues (UCB only) More than 1500 sources published by over 200 organizations around the world. Coverage begins with sources from 1992 to present with more than 150 periodicals in addition to non-periodical source publications. Sources provide information dealing with women's issues in over 190 nations.
  • Ethnic News Watch (UCB only)
    Full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. Includes articles editorials, columns, and reviews which provide a broad diversity of perspectives and viewpoints.
  • Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Index (1975-1996)
    An index to the FBIS Daily Reports issued by the U.S. Government covering political, economic, scientific, and cultural issues and events throughout the world. Translations of broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world are the sources of this information.
  • Gender Watch (UCB only)
    GenderWatch is a full text database of publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. GenderWatch supports programs in business, education, literature and the arts, health sciences, history, political science, public policy, sociology and contemporary culture, gender and women's studies and more. Publications include academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets,conference proceedings, and government, NGO and special reports.
  • Treaties and International Agreements Online (Oceana) (UCB only)
    Contains over 12000 treaties and agreements, the earliest of which dates back to 1783. It also contains Senate Treaty Documents from no. 96-1 through the current Congress, and the US Department documents from DOS 86-1 to the present. Select "Online Direct Links" for access to the database.
  • United Nations Official Documents is a fully searchable electronic repository for UN materials which offers full text documents issued since 1992 along with resolutions and decisions adopted by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the Trusteeship Council since 1946. Documents are presented in image format with easy printing. This website provides us with invaluable and speedy access to UN documents. Please see Wiltrud Harms (in the U.N. Room) or Marci Hoffman for assistance.
  • United Nations Treaty Collection (UCB only)
    Collection includes 5 categories of treaty-related data. Status of multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary General, UN Treaty series, recently deposited multilateral treaties, photographs of Treaty Signature ceremonies and Titles of multilateral treaties in the official UN languages.
  • World News Connection (UCB only)
    Successor to the Daily Reports from the FBIS and the JPRS Reports provided through the NTIS. Contains the full text summaries of non-U.S. newspaper articles, conference proceedings, radio and television broadcasts, periodicals and non-classified technical reports.

LEXIS and WESTLAW

LEXIS is a very good source for newspapers, wire services, and magazine articles. See the WORLD, NEWS, and SCRIPT libraries. Also contains some foreign law sources and some international law as well.

WESTLAW has much less relevant information, although it does provide access to many newspapers, magazine articles and some foreign and international law (particularly UK, Australia, Canada, and the EU). Of particular interest is the INT-NEWS database. Newly added databases include European Union materials, law from the United Kingdom, and other journals and reporters from Europe.

Web Based Translators

These free sites can provide a quick and dirty translation of a web page in another language. These translations should not be relied upon for accuracy, but they will give you an idea of what the page is about. Simply cut and paste the text or url for a translation from one language to another.

This guide was prepared by Marci Hoffman, International & Foreign Law Librarian, UC Berkeley Law Library, revised January 2004.