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International Human Rights Research

International Human Rights Research. Margaret Clark, Reference Librarian Law Research Center February, 2009. What we’ll cover…. United Nations Treaties Judicial decisions Country reports Non-governmental organizations Search engines Research guides. First place to begin research.

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International Human Rights Research

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

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

  3. First place to begin research http://www.un.org/rights/

  4. CHARTER DOCUMENTS DATABASE Searching by committee

  5. Searching by country

  6. Searching by country and subject

  7. TREATY BODY DATABASE

  8. 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

  9. U.N. Research Strategies • 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. • Find and study any resolutions • 1st pars. cite to earlier resolutions • Final pars. announce a plan • Are there any studies or reports cited?

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

  11. For recent treaty sources: • International Legal Materials • Lexis ILMTY • Westlaw ILM • HeinOnline

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

  13. Tools for locating judicial decisions • 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

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

  15. Tools for locating judicial decisions • Digests • Oxford Reports on International Law • HUDOC • International Law Reports • World Court Digests

  16. 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 (1st floor of Library)

  17. 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

  18. International Law Reports Treaty Index

  19. Case Digests • World Court Digest (for ICJ cases)

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

  21. Judicial Decisions – Treaty body database

  22. Judicial Decisions –Bayefsky.com

  23. Judicial decisions – 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 report “Report of the Committee…

  24. 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

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

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

  27. Country Reports–Bayefsky.com

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

  29. 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

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