The
Rights International Research Guide
for
International Human Rights Lawyers

Sources: Part I
Guides to Research and Practice

——————  •  ——————

Table of Contents

Guides to Research and Practice

Guides to Research in International Law and Related Topics, Including Human Rights Law

Note: It is probably best to rely mainly on guides that encompass both written and on-line resources. While much is available on the Internet, it is not possible to do thorough research on most if not all topics without consulting written materials as well. Moreover, even guides that are devoted primarily to written materials are often useful in helping you to understand what’s important to look for.

Guides to Written Resources and On-Line Resources

• General
  • Elizabeth Beyerly, Public International Law: A Guide to Information Sources (New York: Mansell, 1991)
  • Guide to International Legal Research (3d ed. 1998). This book was written by the George Washington University Journal of International Law and Economics.
  • The United Nations Documentation: Research Guide, maintained by the U.N.’s Dag Hammarskjöld Library
  • Katherine C. Hall, International Human Rights Law: A Resource Guide (Queenstown, Md.: Aspen Institute, Justice and Society Program, 1993).
  • The Guide to Human Rights Research published by the Human Rights Program of Harvard Law School.
  • Linda Karr O’Connor, International and Foreign Legal Research: Tips, Tricks, and Sources, 28 Cornell Int’l L.J. 417 (1995).
  • Lyonette Louis-Jacques and David Weissbrodt, Bibliography for Research on International Human Rights Law, 13 Hamline Law Review 673-717 (1990)
  • Penny L. Parker, A Guide to Country-Specific Research, August 10, 1996.
  • Steven C. Perkins, International Human Rights Law and Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice
  • United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld Library, United Nations Documentation: Research Guide on Human Rights
  • United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld Library, United Nations Documentation: Research Guide — Special Topics: International Law
  • University of California (Berkeley) Human Rights Center, Bibliographies on Issues in Human Rights (books and articles)
  • David Weissbrodt & Marci Hoffman, Bibliography for Research on International Human Rights Law
• Specific Topics
  • Amnesty International, Publications on Health and Human Rights Themes: 1982-1998, 4 Health & Hum. Rts. 215 (1999)
  • Sev S. Fluss, A Select Bibliography on Health Aspects of Human Rights: 1984-1999, 4 Health & Hum. Rts. 265 (1999)
  • Steven C. Perkins, Researching Indigenous Peoples Rights Under International Law (1992, 1999)

• The ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law is an excellent starting point. It includes sections on human rights and international criminal law, and a guide to researching treaties.
• The ASIL Newsletter includes a feature on What’s On-Line in International Law
• The AAAS Directory of Human Rights Resources on the Internet
• Josh Blackman, The Legal Researcher’s Internet Directory: 1993/1994 (Legal Research of New York, Inc., 1993)
• Derechos — Human Rights, Concise Guide to Human Rights on the Internet
• Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Legal Research Using the Internet
• Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Fundamentals of Treaty Research: U.S. and Non-U.S. (Electronic Resources)
• Adam T. Smith, International Legal Research on the World Wide Web: A Research Guide (1996)
• The World List: Non-U.S. Law-Related Resources for the Internet Users has a guide to Reference Books and Articles for Legal Research on the Internet. Its usefulness, however, is limited by the fact that it has not been updated since June 1997.

Guides to Practice Before International Tribunals

Global/U.N./Comparative

• Amnesty International, Protecting Human Rights: International Procedures and How to Use Them: The Human Rights Committee (1987)
• The Australian Human Rights Information Centre has written a guide entitled, Communicating with the Human Rights Committee: A Guide to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• M.K. Bulterman & M. Kujer, Compliance with Judgments of International Courts (Martinus Nijhoff 1995)
• Michael O’Flaherty, Human Rights and the UN: Practice before the Treaty Bodies (London: Sweet & Maxwell Ltd., 1996).
• Andrew S. Butler, Legal Aid Before Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Bodies, 49 Int’l & Comp. L.Q. 359 (2000)
• P.R. Ghandhi, The Human Rights Committee and the Right of Individual Communication: Law and Practice (Brookfield, Vt.: Ashgate, 1998)
• Hurst Hannum, ed., Guide to International Human Rights Practice (edited for the Procedural Aspects of International Law Institute in collaboration with the International Human Rights Law Group) (Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, Inc., 3d ed. 1999)
• International Human Rights Law & Practice: Cases, Treaties and Materials (Kluwer Law International, 1997, 2 vols.) provides extensive information for the human rights practitioner regarding the filing of petitions before international tribunals.
• Juliane Kokott, The Burden of Proof in Comparative and International Human Rights Law: Civil and Common Law Approaches with Special Reference to the American and German Legal Systems (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1998)
• Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, The Human Rights Committee: A Guide for NGOs (N.Y. 1997)
• Shabatai Rosenne, The Law and Practice of the International Court, 1920-1996 (2d ed.) (M. Nijhoff, 1997)
• Janusz Symonides, ed., International Protection of Human Rights (Ashgate/UNESCO 1999)

The European System

• Leif Berg, ed., Bringing Cases before the European Commission and Court of Human Rights (Institute for Human Rights, Åbo Akademi University, 1997)
• Luke J. Clements, European Human Rights: Taking a Case under the Convention (Sweet & Maxwell 1994) [a second edition is forthcoming in 1999]
• Council of Europe, Human Rights Today - European Legal Texts (1999) (covers the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Torture Convention, and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, with the Council’s explanatory reports, rules of procedure, and other useful materials)
• Donna Gomien, Short Guide to the European Convention on Human Rights (2d ed. 1998)
• Donna Gomien, David Harris, & Leo Zwaak, Law and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter (Council of Europe 1996)
• Pieter van Dijk and G.J.H. van Hoof, Theory and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights (Kluwer Law & Taxation Publishers 1998 (3d ed.)
• Karen Reid, A Practitioner’s Guide to the European Convention on Human Rights (Sweet & Maxwell 1998)
• Tom Zwart, The Admissibility of Human Rights Petitions: The Case Law of the European Commission of Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee (Dordrecht, Boston: M. Nijhoff, 1994)

The Inter-American System

• Thomas Buergenthal & Dinah Shelton, Protecting Human Rights in the Americas: Cases & Materials (N.P. Engel 1995) (4th ed.)
• J. Scott Davidson, The Inter-American Human Rights System (Aldershot, 1997)
• J. Scott Davidson, The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Aldershot, 1992)

The African System

• Evelyn A. Ankumah, The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Practice and Procedures (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1996)
• Amnesty International, A Guide to the African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights (London, 1991)
• Rachel Murray, Serious or Massive Violations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Comparison with the Inter-American and European Mechanisms, 17 Neth. Q. Hum. Rts 109 (1999)