International Human Rights Research Guide (Subject)
This guide provides an overview of international human rights research tools at the Hastings Law Library and on the Internet. It includes information about indexes, books, periodicals, and websites with useful human rights information. The resources listed should give you a good start on your research and lead you to more specific documents and materials with in-depth subject-specific human rights information.
This Guide is organized by subject. If you are looking for specific documents produced by a particular organization, see the UC Hastings Research Guide to International Human Rights (Organization/Jurisdiction).
Where to Start: Research Guides, Encyclopedias, & Bibliographies
These will give you a general overview of the topic, and provide you with citations to find further information.
PRINT RESOURCES:
Encyclopedia of Human Rights, 2nd edition
JC571 E67 1996
Encyclopedia of Human Rights Issues Since 1945(1999)
JC571 L26 1999
Encyclopedia of Public International Law(1992)
KZ1160 E53 1992
[Volume 2 includes a good discussion of various human rights issues.]
Germain's Transnational Law Research: A Guide For Attorneys
The discussion of human rights research begins at Chapter IV, page 153.
K85 G47
Guide to Human Rights Research
K3236 T63 1994
Human Rights: A Bibliography
JC571 H7644 2000
Human Rights: A Reference Handbook, 2nd edition
K3240 .R42 1998
INTERNET RESOURCES:
ASIL
Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Human Rights
Bibliographies
on issues in human rights prepared by the Institute of International Studies
at UC Berkeley
Bibliography
for Research on International Human Rights Law, by David Weissbrodt
and Marci Hoffman
Bibliography
- Publications on Health and Human Rights Themes: 1985-2005, published
by Amnesty International
GlobaLex
- The NYU School of Law International Human Rights Research Guide
prepared by Grace Mills, the Director of the Law Library at Florida A&M
University.
The University
of Minnesota Human
Rights Internet Library includes a collection
of Human Rights Bibliographies and Guides.
Researching
Indigenous Peoples Rights Under International Law - A research guide
prepared by Steven C. Perkins.
Researching
International Human Rights Law - A library research guide prepared
by the Georgetown University Law Library.
Collections of Human Rights Documents
PRINT RESOURCES:
Basic Documents on Human Rights
K3238 A1 B76 2006
Blackstone's International Human Rights Documents, 3rd edition
K3238 B59 2002
Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments
K3238 A1 H85 2002
INTERNET RESOURCES:
Human
rights links compiled by Georgetown's law librarians
Human
rights treaties and other instruments from the University of Minnesota
The
Multilaterals Project features human rights conventions collected
at the Tufts University website.
Project
Diana's links to human rights cases, reports, and documents
Compilations of Human Rights Resources (& Documents) Organized By Subject
PRINT RESOURCES:
Asia-Pacific Human Rights Documents and Resources(2 vols.)
KM572 A35 A84 1998
Collection
of International Instruments and Other Legal Texts Concerning Refugees
and Displaced Persons (2 vols.) (Available online and in print)
K3230.R45 A265 2008
Compendium of International Conventions Concerning the Status of Women
K3243 A35 U55 1988
European
Convention on Human Rights, Texts and Documents (2 vols.)
KJC5132 A35 E952 1982
International Labour Conventions and Recommendations (3 vols., 1919-1995)
K1703 I57 1996
The International Law of Human Rights in Africa: Basic Documents and Annotated Bibliography
KQC578 I57
A Thematic Guide to Documents on the Human Rights of Women
K644 A35 T44 1995
INTERNET RESOURCES:
Human Rights Resources and Information prepared by the Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley
The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law publishes the Inter-American Human Rights Database.
The Council of Europe's website includes links to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the European conventions, agreements, and treaties, the European Court of Human Rights, and the European Union Annual Report on Human Rights.
Fourth
World Documentation Project: Indigenous Peoples' Information for the Online
Community
Guide
to Country Research for Refugee Status Determination
and the companion list of links, Annex:
Human Rights, Country and Legal Information Resources on the Internet
International
Labour Organization
Project
Diana: Online Human Rights Archive
Washburn
University School of Law's collection of human rights links
Treaties
Hastings Law Library Legal Research Guide: Finding Treaties
Treaties and International Agreements Online - This Internet database may be the best place to search for the full-text of treaties. (It is available only on campus.)
United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) - This Internet database includes a full-text search of treaties and other UNTS databases as well. (Available only from computers on campus.)
Multilaterals Project - Human rights treaties and conventions
Some treaty
databases available on Lexis:
Treaties
and Agreements from ILM - treaties and international agreements
from International Legal Materials, January 1975 through current.
U.S.
Treaties on LEXIS - contains over 14,000 documents from 1776 through
current.
Native
American People Treaties - Archival material from 1787 through 1883.
Some treaty
databases available on Westlaw:
U.S.
Treaties and Other International Agreements - Full-text of international
and American Indian treaties to which the United States is a party from
1778 to present.
United
Kingdom Human Rights Treaties - Text of treaties, conventions, agreements,
protocols, and other instruments of the Council of Europe related to
human rights beginning in November, 1950
Locating Other Important Human Rights Books
Hastings has a very good collection of recent human rights publications. To find books on your subject of interest, search the library's catalog. You might try a "keyword" search to locate a few useful titles, and then you can select "s" to find similar titles cataloged by subject.
Note: If
you simply want to browse the library's collection of human rights titles,
the following call numbers might be helpful:
HQ503-1742 (family, gender, and women)
JC571-599 (topics relating to human rights issues by region or country)
K3230-3240 (international law, asylum, and refugees)
K3242-3585 (includes minority rights, indigenous peoples, and environmental
justice)
KDZ (Inter-American and Latin American human rights issues)
KJC5130-5170 (human rights issues in Europe)
To locate books available in other libraries, search MELVYL® (the combined University of California library catalog), WorldCat on FirstSearch, or other online library catalogs.
Locating Periodical Articles on Various Human Rights Issues
There are several indexes you can use to search for human rights articles in legal periodicals. The primary indexes are Current Law Index, Index to Legal Periodicals & Books, and Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals. All three of these indexes can be searched in print or online. For more details about these and other indexes (including Lexis, Westlaw, and Internet links), consult the Journal Preemption Check Guide at the library homepage or ask a Reference Librarian for assistance.
It might also be useful to search Lexis full-text law reviews AND Westlaw full-text law reviews. Although there is a lot of overlap, you may want to search both Lexis and Westlaw since their databases include many different articles. [Note: A full-text law review search will only cover law review articles written since the mid-1990s, and it will not include as many journals as a search using one of the indexes mentioned above.]
SELECTED
PERIODICALS FOCUSING ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN THE HASTINGS LIBRARY:
(Note: For additional periodicals in the Hastings collection,
search the Library Catalog
using the subjects "Human Rights - Periodicals" or "Civil
Rights - Periodicals".)
Amnesty
International Report
HV6254 A45
Australian
Journal of Human Rights
K1 U7745
B'Tselem
Human Rights Report
JC599 I75 B43
[Note: published by B'Tselem,
the Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.]
Critique:
Review of the US State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
JC571 C75
Human
Rights Quarterly
JC571 U64
WESTLAW (HUMRIGHTSQ)
[1987-current; abstracts only]
Human
Rights Watch World Report
JC571 H785
Inter-American Yearbook of Human Rights
KDZ574.A85 I68
International
Journal of Refugee Law
K9 N8438
International Legal Materials
KZ64 I58
Available on Lexis since 1962 (INTLAW;ILM)
Available on Westlaw since 1980 (ILM)
Israel Yearbook on Human Rights
JC575 I8
Journal
of Palestine Studies (Available online and in print)
DS119.7 J63
South African Human Rights Yearbook
KTL2460 S68
View volume 1-7 online
via HeinOnline.
United Nations Chronicle
JZ4945 U631
SELECTED LAW REVIEW ARTICLES/BIBLIOGRAPHIES:
Weissbrodt,
David and Hoffman, Marci. "Bibliography for Research on International
Human Rights Law"
6
Minn. J. Global Trade 200 (Winter 1997)
Cook, Rebecca
J. and Valerie L. Oosterveld. "A Select Bibliography of Women's Human
Rights"
44
Am. U. L. Rev. 1429 (1995)
Perkins,
Steven C. "Guide to Researching International Human Rights Law"
24
Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 379 (1992)
Louis-Jacques,
Lyonette and Weissbrodt, David. "Bibliography for Research on International
Human Rights Law"
13
Hamline L. Rev. 673 (1990)
Vincent-Daviss,
"Human Rights Law: A Research Guide to the Literature, Part I: International
Law and the United Nations"
14
N.Y.U. J. Int'l L. & Pol. 209 (Fall 1981)
Vincent-Daviss,
Human Rights Law: A Research Guide to the Literature - Part II: International
Protection of Refugees and Humanitarian Law"
15
N.Y.U. J. Int'l L. & Pol. 211 (Winter 1982)
Miscellaneous Links to Human Rights Resources
Center for Economic and Social Rights
Center For World Indigenous Studies - Chief George Manuel Memorial Library and the Fourth World Documentation Archive
Department of State (U.S.) Country Reports on Human Rights
DIANA : Online Human Rights Archive
Foreign Primary Law on the Web maintained by University of Houston Law Center.
International Court of Justice (ICJ website)
International Court of Justice (ICJ research guide)
The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
Netherlands Institute of Human Rights
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
Women's Human Rights Resources - Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto
Last updated September 06, 2008 by Catherine Deane
Prepared by
FCIL Librarian and
Associate FCIL Librarian