Link to Index Page

The field of human rights research involves a multidisciplinary approach. Treaties and conventions, and other instruments are the documents that must be obtained. The status of these instruments is just as important and must also be determined. Since the instruments are issued by many different international organizations, as well as the supporting and interpretative documents, the search for resources can be time-consuming and frustrating. Non-governmental organizations that work in the area of human rights may not publish material on a regular basis. If the area of human rights involves country practices, this may require in depth research of the country or group of countries.  Many  major treaties or conventions require special country reports on specific human rights practices, and therefore these reports may also need to be researched

To begin, an overview of the particular subject area should be studied. Books and law review articles in the Loyola library are the secondary sources for the background information. The Online Catalog subject area of Human Rights will provide related subject areas such as: Children's Rights, Civil Rights, and Women's Rights, human rights specific to countries and regions among others.
Reference sources include:
        The Encyclopedia of Human Rights (REF JC 571 .E67 1996)
       International human rights in a nutshell 2nd ed. by Thomas Buergenthal
        Reserve K3240.4 .B84 1995

Relevant treaties are the place to begin with particular research.  If the subject area concerns a specific country or region, the area must be researched as well.
        The Human Rights Law Journal (JC 571 .H8533) updates treaties in the first issue of the year. Determining the status of the treaty is the next step.
        The International Human Rights Reports (K3239.23 .I58) is a good source for finding documents related to any recent topic in international human rights.
        The Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General: Status (KZ 171 .M86) comes out annually. (NOTE: Loyola has the latest edition only.)

A combination of Internet, electronic and print sources may be necessary for this research step. Many international organizations are providing more information on the websites, which is making this task easier. However, for older treaty information, it may be necessary to find the print materials. If the Loyola law library does not have the material, it is possible to order an interlibrary loan item at the Circulation department.

 RESEARCH GUIDES:

American Society of International Law

A guide to researching human rights law is provided by Marci Hoffman. It is extensive and provides many links to important sources such as primary and secondary sources as well as other guides and bibliographies.

Harvard Law Library-Foreign and International Law Research Guides

Human Rights, an annotated guide which also links to many of the basic sources. Very well-organized and complete resources. Besides basic resources, it includes country sites, IGO's and NGO's, and specialized topics in the human rights framework.

Print sources in the Loyola Law Library:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights : a commentary edited by Asbjrn Eide
K 3238 .31948 .A3 U5 1992

Guide to the "travaux preparatoires" of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by Marc J. Bossuyt
K3238 31966 .B67 1987

The International Bill of Rights : the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights / Louis Henkin, editor.
 K3240.6 .I53

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Selected decisions under the optional protocol / Human Rights Committee
K3239.23 .H86 1966

The United Nations Convention against Torture by J. Herman Burgers and Hans Danelius.
 K5410.T6 B87 1988

   The United Nations is the major "global" organization involved with human rights. The Charter of the United Nations, 1945, is the first major instrument, along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948. The Human Rights web page is a place to start, for it links to many useful research areas of the U.N.
    The Documentation Research Guide    begins with an introduction explaining the difference between Charter-based bodies and treaty-based bodies. The Commission on Human Rights handles charter-based bodies and has a documents database. Treaty-based bodies consist of committees dealing with the specific topics of the basic human rights instruments. They include:
Committee Against Torture
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Committee on the Ellimination of Discrimination Against Women
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Human Rights Committee which was established after the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights    was implemented in 1966.

 The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, which has its own comprehensive web site and contains the database for the human rights documents is an important source. The  main U.N. Treaties database is fee-based, although the  human rights treaties are found at the UNCHR web site and are free. Status of the treaty can also be determined, and the country reports are found in the database. "For the Record" summarizes the work of the UN and developments for the year, and it links to specific countries for information.

The Harvard guide provides an outline of "How to Find UN Documents" which can be very useful.

Older treaty information can be located in the following books in the library:

International Human Rights Instruments of the United Nations, 1948-1982. K 3238 .I57 1983

                    Human Rights: a compilation of international instruments JC 571 .U496 1983
                            Note: There is a 6th ed. which goes up to 1993.Library does not have it.

International Human Rights Instruments : a compilation of treaties, agreements and declarations of especial interest to the United States. K3238 A1 I536 1990

Other major web site for human rights treaties can be found at:

       University of Minnesota Human Rights Library

The collection has over ninety of the most important international human rights treaties and other instruments. They can be accessed by subject or through an instrument list. It is also a searchable database. Many instruments are available in French or Spanish. The comprehensive site has both intstruments and other documents.
Bibliographies and research guides are available
An extensive group of human rights links provides wide variety of organizations, both government and non-governmental with reference materials and documents.

Regional materials are also found in this library:

European Court of Human Rights

Established by the Council of Europe, the ECHR has its own website with the basic documents and HUDOC the database of its judgements.

Inter-American Commission of Human Rights.

and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights are maintained at the U of Minnesota and is the best place for these materials in English.

World LII Categories database

Part of the AustLII database, which began as a combined world treaties library and Australia's legal materials, the World LII is the newest part of this huge Internet project, which has become the largest collection of legal information on the Internet. This link is to the human rights treaties database.

The regional areas of the world have extensive links to country information containing  regional cases, legislation and all types of international research materials. The Project Dial is a catalog specifically for Internet sources of Asian law.

Project Diana-Yale University

An "online human rights archive", this site provides treaties, cases and other documents as important resources. The Bora Laskin Law Library provides a Women's Rights database as part of this project.

Regional materials - Print sources:

International human rights reports-K 3239.23 .I58 1994-
European human rights reports-KJC 5132 .A52 E97
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights JC571.557 1970
Inter-American Human rights system KDZ 578. I5 D38 1997
Selected decisions under the optional protocol / Human Rights Committee
K3239.23 .H86 1966
Case law of the European Court of Human Rights-KJC 5132 .A52 B4713
Digest of Strasbourg case-law relating to the European Convention on Human Rights- KJC 5132 A52 D5 v.3
Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights : reference charts / by Donna Gomien  KJC 5138.A4 G65 1995
Yearbook of the European convention on human rights, the European Commission and European Court of Human Rights
KJC S132 .A52 ZD63
Annual report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
JC 599 A5 I5 1986

Council of Europe

One of the oldest inter governmental organizations, it has become involved in human rights issues for its member states and established the European Court of Human Rights.

Derechos

One of the first organizations to publish information on the Internet, it is mainly involved in Latin American countries and promotes awareness of human rights issues in those countries.

European Union

Known as "supra-regional" organization, with unification of the member states of the European Communities as its goal, it has become quite powerful. The civil and political rights of its members has been at the forefront of its establishment. Much attention has been given in its treaties and other documents to promotion of these rights. The treaties and the selected instruments focusing on human rights are found at EUR-Lex database.

Organization of American States (OAS)

The OAS is a more loosely-organized regional organization of Latin American countries. Basic documents concerning human rights for the region are found here.

International Labour Organization

Issues of worker's rights, employee protection rights  are presented and the site provides information about how these rights relate to economic and social needs development. Ratification of its basic conventions are published regularly on the web site.

Organization of African Unity

Provides the charter of the organization. Links to human rights and people's rights resources, and the welfare of the child.

NGO's include:

Amnesty International

Key organization that monitors the world's human rights events and developments. Makes recommendations and provides annual reports and country reports.

Human Rights Watch

Another organization that monitors world human rights practices. Provide news, World reports and country reports on their web site.

Derechos

First Internet based human rights organization; mainly works with Latin American human rights organizations.

The University of Minnesota site contains a comprehensive list of links to other NGO's, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Some materials can be found at web sites as well as in print in the Loyola Law Library:

Country reports on human rights practices/Dept. of State
K 3240 .U55 2000

Human Rights Watch world report.
 JC 571 H7851996

Amnesty International report
 JC 571 A44a

Library of Congress Country Studies

CIA World Factbook
REF G123.W6

Background Notes; Dept. of State publication
KZ 233 A34 1995

The University of Minnesota site provides the following guide:

UN Human Rights Documentation: A Guide to Country-Specific Research by Penny Parker

Harvard Law Library-Human Rights

Provides a good sampling of links to individual countries, sites that provide human rights information.

U.S. Dept. of State-Human Rights

Country Reports on human rights practices; also links to UN Commission on Human Rights, other reports and news and other related links.

Hieros Gamos - All Governments of the World

Hieros Gamos provides an extensive index of information regarding all countries in the world. There are legal guides, and links to innumerable worldwide sites, depending upon the country being researched. A general guide, it provides links to the CIA World Factbook and to Yahoo for specific countries.

Public International Law

Compiled by Professor Francis Auburn of the University of Western Australia, this site's purpose is to give as many relevant sources of international law topics as possible. Links are divided by subjects and regional areas, such as human rights, women, environment, crime, Europe and the Middle East.

A selected list of publications related to specific areas of the subject of human rights. These books can be found in Loyola's Law Library within the subject classification.

Employment law in Europe / general editors, Susan Mayne, Susan Malyon ; with contributions from European practitioners. London : Butterworths, 2001.

The book is aimed at practitioners who wish to gain a practical understanding of the subject in Europe. A selected group of countries is profiled with regard to work time, remuneration, collective rights, disputes and individual country laws regarding employment.
KJC 2855 .E46 2001

Global human rights law collection / editors W. van der Wolf & S. de Haardt.

Three volumes of this set have been published. Vol. I "Historical Texts and Materials on Human Rights", Vol. II "The United Nations and Human Rights" and Vol. III, Part I Documents for Europe, America, and Africa are published. Volume 4 is expected in 2002. Historical perspectives through documents of human rights.
K 3240 .G56 1999

Groome, Dermot. The handbook of human rights investigation : a comprehensive guide to the investigation and documentation of violent human rights abuses / Dermot Groome Northborough, MA : Human Rights Press, c2001.
K 3240.4 .G76 2001

Hodgson, Douglas. The human right to education / Douglas Hodgson. Aldershot ; Brookfield, Vt. : Ashgate, c1998.

A general overview of the right to educational development on international and regional levels Along with historical outlines, the emergence of controversial issues such as minority education is discussed in context of the States' responsibility. Individual countries are not specifically addressed.
K 3740 .H63 1998

Human rights : an agenda for the 21st century / edited by Angela Hegarty and Siobhan
Leonard. London : Cavendish Publishing Ltd., c1999.

The goal of this book is to heighten awareness concerning key issues in human rights. A broad framework of historical contexts, the standards from the United Nations and international human rights conventions serve to bring about new problems and emerging trends. Many topical issues are discussed such as women's rights, equality, economic strategies, along with the evolving role of NGO's provide challenges for the future of human rights. An excellent bibliography and index are included.
K 3240 .H848 1999

Toebes, Brigit C. A. The right to health as a human right in international law / Brigit C.A. Toebes.t
Antwerpen, Netherlands : INTERSENTIA, c1999.

Definitions of the problem, the interpretation in international treaties and documents and the implementation of the rights to health are covered on a global basis.
K 3601 .A7 T64 1999

Bibliographies and Additional Research Sources:

Bibliographies and Guides; such as the extensive one written by David Weissbrodt and Marci Hoffman.

University of Minnesota-All Human Rights Links

Internet sites which are exemplary in the depth of information and currency of international affairs offered. The broad and diverse number of international law subject areas make them worthwhile sites. Current international law journals are also important for insight into global events.

ASIL-Human Rights

Covers the diverse human rights spectrum, " including asylum and immigration, labor rights, crime and punishment and the use of military intervention." ASIL Insights provides analysis and commentary on current global issues written by experts in the field. The ASIL newsletter gives the full searchable index for AJIL. Recent articles of interest are also listed by topics.

WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources: Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs

The site is maintained at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. It is a section of the WWW Virtual Library featuring a wide range of International Affairs resources. Provides directories, limited area search engines and searchable databases.

Legal Resource Exchange (LLRX)

The international and foreign law component of this free bi-monthly web journal has become much more substantial as an online resource for up-to-date information. In the area of human rights, the article "Update to  Annex: Human Rights, Country and Legal Information Resources on the Internet", by Elisa Mason is kept up to date. It is a companion to " Update to Guide to Country Research for Refugee Status Determination", by the same author, published on March 18, 2002]