The
Rights International Research Guide
for
International Human Rights Lawyers

Sources: Part II
Research on International Human Rights Instruments: Texts, Travaux Préparatoires, Ratifications & Reservations, General Comments & Caselaw, and Useful Secondary Materials

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Table of Contents

Research on International Human Rights Instruments: Texts, Travaux Préparatoires, Ratifications & Reservations, General Comments & Caselaw, and Useful Secondary Materials:

What this section covers. For each of the treaties most likely to be of importance to the human rights practitioner, this section includes (where available):

• a link to the text of the instrument
• links to information on the status of the treaty
• compilations of travaux préparatoires
• information on where to find General Comments & caselaw
• useful secondary materials

     The first subsection (“Databases and Compilations of Treaties and Related Materials”) covers books and web sites that are generally useful for finding this information.

     The second subsection (“Treaty-Specific Information”) gives such information for each of the following instruments:

• Global Treaties and Declarations
  • The U.N. Charter
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • The ICCPR and Optional Protocols
  • The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
  • The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
  • The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
  • The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment
  • The Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Regional Treaties
  • The Inter-American System
  • The European System
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
  • The Asia-Pacific Region

• Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
• Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
• Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
• Other Thematic Working Groups and Special Rapporteurs
• Country-Specific Rapporteurs

• Global and Regional Treaties and Other Instruments
  • General Collections of Treaties
    • Two on-line databases stand out as the most useful, because they contain not only the most well-known human rights treaties, but also lesser known treaties and a number of related instruments (e.g., U.N. General Assembly Declarations, proclamations by regional bodies).
      • The Human Rights Treaties and Other Instruments maintained by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library.
      • The International Human Rights Instruments maintained by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
      Note that the section below on the major human rights treaties has links to the texts of those particular treaties (see Treaty-Specific Information), but you should also check these databases for related treaties.
    • Other Sources
      • The Multilaterals Project of The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy has a searchable database of treaties.
      • The UN maintains a Treaty Database. The database contains thousands of treaties, but the site is slow and the search engine is not particularly reliable. As of March 1, 2000, the database is available on a paid-subscription basis only.
      • U.N. Documents
      • The World Law Guide, maintained by Lexadin, has the text of about 30 treaties, with an emphasis on economic and commercial law, but it includes some human treaties relevant to human rights.
      • Council of Europe, Human Rights in International Law (1992)
      • Christopher Gane & Mark Mackarel, eds., Human Rights and the Administration of Justice (Kluwer Law International 1997)
      • Francisco Forrest Martin, et al., eds., International Human Rights Law & Practice: Cases, Treaties and Materials — Documentary Supplement (Kluwer Law International 1997)
      • Ian Brownlie, ed., Basic Documents on Human Rights (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 3rd ed. 1992)
      • Goran Melander and Gudmundur Alfredsson, eds., The Raoul Wallenberg Institute Compilation of Human Rights Instruments (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1997)
      • Maximo Pacheco Gomez, Los Derechos Humanos: Documentos Básicos (Santiago de Chile: Editorial Jurídica de Chile, 1a ed. 1987)
      • Rebecca M. M. Wallace, ed., International Human Rights: Text and Materials (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1997).
  • Specific Topic Areas:
    • Children’s Rights
      • Maria Rita Saulle, The Rights of the Child: International Instruments (Transnational Publishers, Inc., 1995)
      • Geraldine Van Bueren, International Documents on Children (Martinus Nijhoff 1993)
    • Refugees and Asylum
      • Goran Melander & Peter Nobel, eds., International Legal instruments on Refugees in Africa (Uppsala : Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1979)
      • Richard Plender, Basic Documents on International Migration Law (The Hague, Martinus Nihjoff, 2d rev. ed. 1997)
    • Health and Human Rights
      • Gudmundur Alfredsson & Katarina Tomasevski, eds., A Thematic Guide to Documents on Health and Human Rights: Global and Regional Standards Adopted by Intergovernmental Organizations, International Non-governmental Organizations and Professional Associations (Martinus Nijhoff 1998)
    • Women
      • The International Human Rights of Women: Instruments of Change (Washington, D.C., ABA Section of International Law and Practice, 1998) (reprints 50 documents and instruments on evolution of women’s rights, 1791-1995)
      • Katarina Tomasevski & Gudmundur Alfredsson, eds., A Thematic Guide to Documents on the Human Rights of Women: Global and Regional Standards Adopted by Intergovernmental Organizations, International Non-governmental Organizations and Professional Associations (Martinus Nijhoff 1995)
      • Women and Human Rights: The Basic Documents (New York: Center for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University, 1996)
• Regional Treaties
  • The Council of Europe maintains a database of European human rights treaties.
  • The Basic Documents page of the Inter-American Commission has the human rights treaties for the Americas.

• General Information on Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures
  • The best way to check this is to go either to the Human Rights Treaties and Other Instruments maintained by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library, or to the International Human Rights Instruments maintained by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, and follow the link to the treaty text. You will there find a link for ratification information for that treaty.
  • You may wish to check the updated table of signatures and ratifications that Rights International maintains for human rights treaties.
  • Appendix C to the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
• General Information on Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings
  • The best way to check this is to go either to the Human Rights Treaties and Other Instruments maintained by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library, or to the International Human Rights Instruments maintained by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, and follow the link to the treaty text. You will there find a link for information on reservations for that treaty by scrolling down past the ratification information.
  • General Commentaries on Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings:
    • Frank Horn, Reservations and Interpretative Declarations to Multilateral Treaties (1988)
    • Liesbeth Lijnzaad, Reservations to UN Human Rights Treaties: Ratify and Ruin? (Martinus Nijhoff 1994)
    • Human Rights as General Norms and a State’s Right to Opt Out: Reservations and Objections to Human Rights Conventions (London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 1997)
    • U.N. Human Rights Committee, Human Rights Committee, General Comment 24 (52), General comment on issues relating to reservations made upon ratification or accession to the Covenant or the Optional Protocols thereto, or in relation to declarations under article 41 of the Covenant, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.6 (1994), adopted by the Committee at its 1382nd meeting (fifty-second session) on 2 November 1994
• General Information on Derogations
  • Rusen Ergec, Les Droits de l’Homme a l’Epreuve des Circonstances Exceptionnelles: Etude sur l’Article 15 de la Convention Européenne des Droits de l’Homme (Bruxelles: Editions Bruylant, 1987)
  • International Commission of Jurists, States of Emergency: Their Impact on Human Rights: A Study (Geneva 1983)
  • Daniel Premont, ed., Droits Intangibles et États d’Exception (Bruxelles: E. Bruylant, 1996)
  • Subrata Roy Chowdhury, The Rule of Law in a State of Emergency: The Paris Minimum Standards of Human Rights Norms in a State of Emergency (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989)
  • Anna-Lena Svensson-McCarthy, The International Law of Human Rights and States of Exception: with Special Reference to the Travaux Preparatoires and Caselaw of the International Monitoring Organs (Kluwer Law International 1998)
• General Information on Travaux Préparatoires
  Note: For works that give the drafting history of particular treaties, see the Treaty Specific Information below. This section lists references with extensive discussions of the travaux of a several treaties relating to a single topic.
  • States of Emergency
    • Anna-Lena Svensson-McCarthy, The International Law of Human Rights and States of Exception: with Special Reference to the Travaux Preparatoires and Caselaw of the International Monitoring Organs (Kluwer Law International 1998)
  • The Death Penalty
    • William A. Schabas, The Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law (1993)
• General Information on Procedural Issues
  • Exhaustion of Local Remedies
    • Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade, The Application of the Rule of Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Law: Its Rationale in the International Protection of Individual Rights (Cambridge 1983)
  • Remedies
    • Christine D. Gray, Judicial Remedies in International Law (Oxford 1987)
    • Albrecht Randelzhofer and Christian Tomuschat (eds.), State Responsibility and the Individual: Reparation in Instances of Grave Violations of Human Rights (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1999)
    • Dinah Shelton, Remedies in International Human Rights Law (Oxford 1999)
• General Information on General Comments & Caselaw
  • The U.N. Treaty Bodies Database. This database covers:
    • the Human Rights Committee
    • the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
    • the Committee against Torture
    • the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
    • the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
    • the Committee on the Rights of the Child
    These bodies are grouped together as part of a larger distinction between types of U.N. Human rights bodies — treaty-based and non-treaty-based (or treaty bodies and otherwise). This distinction, it should be noted, is of relevance only to the U.N.: All regional human rights bodies are treaty-based. The bodies listed above have been created specifically by a human rights treaty (or in the case of the ESC Committee, have been created specifically to monitor a treaty). Other bodies concerned with human rights (e.g., the U.N. Commission on Human Rights) have not been created by any human rights treaty, and are not concerned with any one treaty. Some of the U.N. treaty-based bodies (the Human Rights Committee, the CERD Committee, and the Committee against Torture) hear individual petitions and issue “recommendations” or “views” that look like judicial decisions (though their exact legal status is more complicated than that). For the most part, that is not true of the non-treaty based bodies like the Commission on Human Rights, though some of the Working Groups it has created are increasingly adopting an adjudicative approach.
  • Rights International’s two-volume book, International Human Rights Law & Practice: Cases, Treaties and Materials (Kluwer Law International, 1997) provides extensive selections, excerpts, and summaries of cases organized by topic.
  • There are a number of journals and other periodic publications that reproduce (or in some cases, summarize) decisions of international human rights tribunals. These tend to be available earlier than primary, official sources. For a discussion of the availability of human rights materials put out by official sources, see David Weissbrodt and Marci Hoffman, Bibliography for Research on International Human Rights Law. To find official sources, see the sections Research on the caselaw of U.N. Human Rights Tribunals, and Research on other U.N. bodies relevant to human rights below. You may also wish to check the sections on Written Resources for Guides for Practitioners, and on Treaty-Specific Information.
         If you are looking for written resources limited to regional tribunals, consult the section on Written Resources for Regional Human Rights Tribunals.
    • The Human Rights Law Journal, published four times a year by N.P. Engel (Kehl, Germany), publishes selected texts of the decisions of various international and regional human rights tribunals, as well as texts of treaties and other instruments relating to human rights. In addition, it publishes secondary material that is useful (e.g., compilations on the status of human rights treaties, articles on issues of human rights law).
    • International Human Rights Reports, published three times a year by the Human Rights Law Centre of the University of Nottingham, Department of Law, contains the text of opinions of international and regional tribunals adjudicating human rights issues, as well as treaties and other instruments.
    • International Legal Materials, published six times a year by the American Society of International Law, gives texts of decisions (national and international) related to international law, as well as texts of treaties and other instruments. [I.L.M. can be found online in Westlaw in the “ILM” database. (A password is needed.) It can also be found in Lexis, in the INTLAW library, ILM or ASIL files. (A password is needed.)]

• Global Treaties and Declarations
  • The U.N. Charter, June 26, 1945, 59 Stat. 1031, T.S. 993, 3 Bevans 1153, entered into force Oct. 24, 1945
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N.
    • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Travaux préparatoires
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Jean Pierre Cot, et al., La Chartre des Nations Unies: Commentaire, Article par Article (2d ed. 1991)
      • T.O. Elias, The United Nations Charter and the World Court (1989)
      • Leland M. Goodrich, Charter of the United Nations: Commentary and Documents (3d rev. ed. 1969)
      • Jacob Robinson, Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Charter of the United Nations (1946)
      • Bruno Simma, ed., The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary (Oxford 1995)
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948)
    Note: The Universal Declaration is not a treaty, but a resolution of the U.N. General Assembly. It is included here because of its general importance. It should be considered in any human rights case, though often the language of subsequent treaties will be more specific. No body comparable to the Human Rights Committee exists to “enforce” the Declaration. There are, however, U.N. bodies that take particular interest in the Declaration. These are:
    • The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
    • The U.N. Commission on Human Rights
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N.
    • Travaux préparatoires
      • Johannes Morsink, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting, and Intent (U. Penn. 1999) has a detailed account of the drafting of the Declaration, including the discussions of different provisions and proposed amendments
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Gudmundur Alfredsson & Asbjorn Eide, eds., The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Common Standard of Achievement (Martinus Nijhoff 1999)
      • Frederik Mari baron van Asbeck, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Its Predecessors (1679-1948) (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1949)
      • Enrico Alleva, ed., I Diritti Umani a 40 Anni dalla Dichiarazione Universale (Padova: CEDAM, 1989)
      • Peter Baehr, Cees Flinterman, Mignon Senders, eds., Innovation and Inspiration: Fifty Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1999)
      • Noam Chomsky, The Umbrella of U.S. Power: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Contradictions of U.S. policy (New York: Seven Stories Press, 1999)
      • Erica-Irene A. Daes, Freedom of the Individual under Law: A Study on the Individual’s Duties to the Community and the Limitations on Human Rights and Freedoms under Article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (New York: United Nations, 1990)
      • Yael Danieli, et al., eds, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Fifty Years and Beyond (Amityville, N.Y.: U.N. and Baywood Pub. Co., 1999)
      • Asbjorn Eide, et al., The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Commentary (Scandinavian University Press & Oxford, 1992)
      • Tony Evans, ed., Human Rights: Fifty Years On: An Appraisal (Manchester University Press 1998)
      • Barend van der Heijden et al., Reflections on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Fiftieth Anniversary Anthology (Martinus Nijhoff 1998)
      • John P. Humphrey, Human Rights and the United Nations: A Great Adventure (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Transnational Publishers, 1984)
      • John P. Humphrey, No Distant Millennium: The International Law of Human Rights (Paris: UNESCO, 1989)
      • G. Johnson, ed., La Declaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme (Paris: UNESCO/L’Harmattan, 1991)
      • Helle Kanger, Human Rights in the U.N. Declaration (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1984)
      • William Korey, NGOs and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Curious Grapevine (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998)
      • J.-B. Marie, La Commission des Droits de l’Homme de l’O.N.U. (Paris: Pedone, 1975)
      • Johannes Morsink, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting, and Intent (U. Penn. 1999)
      • James W. Nickel, Making Sense of Human Rights: Philosophical Reflections on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Berkeley 1987)
      • Nehemiah Robinson, Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Its Origins, Significance, and Interpretation (New York: Institute of Jewish Affairs, World Jewish Congress, 1950)
      • Ashild Samnoy, Human Rights as International Consensus: The Making of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1945-1948 (Bergen, Norway: Chr. Michelsen Insititute, 1993)
      • Egon Schwelb, Human Rights and the International Community: The Roots and Growth of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948-1963 (Chicago: 1964)
      • Albert Verdoodt, Naissance et Signification de la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme (1964)
      • Joseph Wronka, Human Rights and Social Policy in the 21st Century: A History of the Idea of Human Rights and Comparison of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights with United States Federal and State Constitutions (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1998)
  • The ICCPR and Optional Protocols
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force Mar. 23, 1976.
      • Treaty Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
      • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection
      • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings through the U.N. Treaty Collection
      • Travaux préparatoires
        • Marc J. Bossuyt, Guide to the “Travaux Preparatoires” of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Martinus Nijhoff 1987)
    • The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 59, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 302, entered into force March 23, 1976
      • Treaty Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
      • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection
      • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, G.A. res. 44/128, annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 207, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force July 11, 1991.
      • Treaty Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
      • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection
      • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • The Human Rights Committee: Caselaw & General Comments
      • Views in Particular Cases Official Reports
        • Human Rights Committee. Report of the Human Rights Committee, 47th Sess., UN GAOR Supp.(No. 40), A/47/40 (1994).
        • This series contains the Committee’s views and recommendations in particular cases. The one mentioned above is the most recent. For earlier years, look for earlier session numbers.
        • Human Rights Committee. Selected Decisions Under the Optional Protocol. New York: U.N. CCPR/C/OP/1. 1985.
        • Human Rights Committee. Selected Decisions under the Optional Protocol. Volume 2. Seventh to thirty-second sessions (October 1982-April 1988). New York: U. N., CCPR/C/OP/2. 1990.
        • Consult the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide
        Unofficial Reports
        • The U.N.
        • The Australian Human Rights Information Centre
        • The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
      • General Comments Official Reports
        • Consult the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide
        Unofficial Reports
        • The Australian Human Rights Information Centre
        • The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Dominic McGoldrick, Human Rights Committee: Its Role in the Development of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Oxford 1991).
      • Manfred Nowak, U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR Commentary (N.P. Engel, 1993)
      • P.R. Ghandhi, The Human Rights Committee and the Right of Individual Communication: Law and Practice (Brookfield, Vt.: Ashgate, 1998)
  • The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force Jan. 3, 1976.
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • Treaty Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
    • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Travaux préparatoires
    • The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: General Comments
      Note that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is technically not a “treaty-based” body. The ESC Covenant does not provide for a supervisory committee; instead, the Committee was created by the Economic and Social Council in 1986. It is grouped here because it serves functions that are similar to those of treaty-based bodies, by reviewing state reports concerning compliance and by issuing General Comments. It does not accept petitions from individuals.
      • General Comments: Official Reports
        • Consult the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide
        Unofficial Reports
        • The U.N.
        • Through the Australian Human Rights Information Centre
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Matthew C. R. Craven, The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: A Perspective on its Development (Oxford 1995)
      • Asbjorn Eide, et al., eds., Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: A Textbook (Dordrecht: M. Nijhoff Publishers, 1995)
      • Franz Matscher, ed., The Implementation of Economic and Social Rights/National, International and Comparative Aspects (Kehl & Arlington, VA: N.P. Engel 1991)
      • Roberto Mayorga Lorca, Naturaleza Jurídica de los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (Santiago, Chile: Editorial Juridica de Chile, 2d ed. 1990)
      • A. Glenn Mower, Jr., International Cooperation for Social Justice: Global and Regional Protection of Economic/Social Rights (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1985)
  • The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 660 U.N.T.S. 195, entered into force Jan. 4, 1969.
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • Treaty Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
    • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Travaux préparatoires
    • The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
      • Views in Particular Cases Official Reports
        • International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: Official Records, Decisions. New York: United Nations, CERD/SP/40. These have been published since 1990.
        • Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. General Assembly Official Records: [Session No.] Session. Supplement No. 18. New York: U.N.
          The Annual Reports were first published in 1969. Each Annual Report summarizes the work of the Committee for that year, including its views in particular cases.
        • Consult the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide
        Unofficial Reports
        • Consult the information on written resources.
        • The U.N.
        • The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
      • General Recommendations Official Reports
        • Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. General Assembly Official Records: [Session No.] Session. Supplement No. 18. New York: U.N.
          The Annual Reports were first published in 1969. Each Annual Report summarizes the work of the Committee, including its General Comments.
        • International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Summary Records of the [No.] Meeting. New York: U. N., CERD/SP/SR [Session No.]
          The Summary Records were first published in 1970. Each Summary Record, published annually, summarizes discussions by Committee members and state representatives concerning states’ annual reports.
        Unofficial Reports
        • Consult the information on written resources.
        • The Australian Human Rights Information Centre
        • The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Michael Banton, International Action against Racial Discrimination (Oxford 1996)
      • Natan Lerner, The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Sijthoff & Noordhoff 1980)
      • United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Fact Sheet No.12, The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
  • The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, G.A. res. 34/180, 34 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 46) at 193, U.N. Doc. A/34/46, entered into force Sept. 3, 1981
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • Treaty Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights or the U.N. gopher site
    • Proposed Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrmination against Women, U.N. Doc. E/CN.6/1999/WG/L.2 (adopted as a recommendation to the General Assembly by the Commission on the Status of Women (43rd Session); adopted by the General Assembly, A/RES/54/4 (October 15, 1999). It will enter into force three months after the tenth state ratifies it, giving the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women competence to hear petitions against states party to the Optional Protocol.
      • Text through the United Nations CEDAW page
      • Text reprinted in 17 Neth. Q. Hum. Rts. 213 (1999), and 38 I.L.M. 763 (1999)
    • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection or the U.N. gopher site
    • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings through the U.N. Treaty Collection or the U.N. gopher site
    • Travaux préparatoires
      • Lars Adam Rehof, Guide to the Travaux Preparatoires of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (Martinus Nijhoff 1993)
    • The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: General Comments
      Note: The Committee currently does not accept individual petitions, but this will change if the proposed Optional Protocol enters into force. Official Reports
      • Consult the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide
      Unofficial Reports
      • See the page on the Committee and the Convention maintained by the U.N.’s Division for the Advancement of Women
      • General Comments: through the Australian Human Rights Information Centre
      • The U.N.
      • Other official documents through the U.N.’s gopher site.
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Belinda Clark, The Vienna Convention Reservations Regime and the Convention on Discrimination against Women, 85 Amer. J. Int’l L. 281 (1991)
      • Rebecca J. Cook, Reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 30 Va. J. Int’l L. 643 (1990)
      • Rebecca J. Cook, ed., Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives (U. Penn. 1994)
      • A Thematic Guide to Documents on the Human Rights of Women: Global and Regional Standards Adopted by Intergovernmental Organizations, International Non-governmental Organizations, and Professional Associations (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1995).
      • United Nations Center for Human Rights, Fact Sheet No.22, Discrimination against Women: The Convention and the Committee
      • United Nations Center for Human Rights, Fact Sheet No.23, Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children
      • Andrew Byrnes, The “Other” Human Rights Treaty Body: The Work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (LL.M. Thesis, Columbia Law School, 1988)
  • The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment, G.A. res. 39/46, annex, 39 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 51) at 197, U.N. Doc. A/39/51 (1984), entered into force June 26, 1987.
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • Treaty Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
    • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Travaux préparatoires
      • J. Herman Burgers & Hans Danelius, eds., The United Nations Convention Against Torture (Martinus Nijhoff, 1988).
      • United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Fact Sheet No.17, The Committee against Torture
    • The Committee Against Torture: Caselaw & General Comments
      • Views in Particular Cases Official Reports
        • Consult the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide for information
        Unofficial Reports
        • Consult the information on written resources.
        • The U.N.
        • The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
      • General Recommendations Official Reports
        • Consult the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide for information
        Unofficial Reports
        • Consult the information on written resources.
        • The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • J. Herman Burgers & Hans Danelius, eds., The United Nations Convention Against Torture (Martinus Nijhoff, 1988).
      • Ahcene Boulesbaa, The U.N. Convention on Torture and the Prospects for Enforcement (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff 1999)
      • Regina v. Bartle and the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Others Ex Parte Pinochet Regina v. Evans and Another and the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Others Ex Parte Pinochet
  • The Convention on the Rights of the Child, G.A. res. 44/25, annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 167, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force Sept. 2, 1990.
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • Treaty Text through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
    • Ratifications, Accessions, and Signatures through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings through the U.N. Treaty Collection
    • Travaux préparatoires
      • Sharon Detrick, ed., The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Guide to the “Travaux Preparatoires” (Martinus Nijhoff & Kluwer 1992)
    • The Committee on the Rights of the Child: General Comments
      Note: The Committee does not accept individual petitions.
      • General Recommendations Official Reports
        • Leif Holmström (ed.), Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: Third to Seventeenth Session (1993-1998) (Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Intergovernmental Human Rights Documentation, Vol. 1) (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff 2000)
        • Consult the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide for information
        Unofficial Reports
        • The U.N.
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Arlene Bowers Andrews & Natalie Hevener Kaufman, Implementing the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Standard of Living Adequate for Development (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999)
      • William D. Angel, ed., The International Law of Youth Rights (Martinus Nijhoff 1995)
      • Cynthia Price Cohen & Howard A. Davidson, eds., Children’s Rights in America: U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child Compared with United States Law (American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, 1990)
      • Cynthia Price Cohen and Susan Kilbourne, Jurisprudence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: A Guide for Research and Analysis, 19 Mich. J. Int'l L. 633 (1998)
      • Sharon Detrick, A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (The Hague: M. Nijhoff 1999)
      • Gabriele Dorsch, Die Konvention der Vereinten Nationen uber die Rechte des Kindes (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1994).
      • Michael Freeman & Philip Veerman, eds., The Ideologies of Children’s Rights (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, 1992)
      • Michael Freeman, ed., Children’s Rights: A Comparative Perspective (Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1996).
      • Minoru Ishikawa, Kazokuho ni okeru kodomo no kenri: sono seisei to tenkai (Tokyo: Nihon Hyoronsha, 1995)
      • James R. Himes, Implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Resource Mobilization in Low-Income Countries (Martinus Nijhoff 1995)
      • International Commission of Jurists, Rights of the Child: Report of a Training Programme in Asia (Geneva: The Commission, 1994).
      • Jenny Kuper, International Law Concerning Child Civilians in Armed Conflict (Oxford 1997)
      • Lawrence J. LeBlanc, The Convention on the Rights of the Child: United Nations Lawmaking on Human Rights (University of Nebraska Press, 1995).
      • A. Glenn Mower, The Convention on the Rights of the Child: International Law Support for Children (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997).
      • Kenichi Nagai & Takao Terawaki, Kaisetsu Kodomo no kenri joyaku (Tokyo: Nihon Hyoronsha, 1994).
      • United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Fact Sheet No.10 (Rev.1), The Rights of the Child
      • United Nations Center for Human Rights, Fact Sheet No.23, Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children
      • Geraldine Van Bueren, The International Law on the Rights of the Child (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995).
      • Eugeen Verhellen, Convention on the Rights of the Child: Background, Motivation, Strategies, Main Themes (Leuven: Garant, 1994).
      • Eugeen Verhellen, ed., Monitoring Children’s Rights (Martinus Nijhoff 1996)
      • Bea Verschraegen, Die Kinderrechtekonvention (Wein: Manzsche Verlags- und Universitatsbuchhandlung, 1996).
      • Maoud Zani, La Convention Internationale des Droits de l’Enfant: Portee et Limites (Paris: Publisud, 1996).
• Regional Treaties
  • Inter-American System
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
    • The American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, O.A.S. Res. XXX, adopted by the Ninth International Conference of American States (1948), reprinted in Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System, OEA/Ser.L.V/II.82 doc.6 rev.1 at 17 (1992).
      Note: All members of the Organization of American States are bound to respect the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. Although the Declaration is not a treaty as such, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is charged with ensuring that OAS members respect human rights as embodied in the Declaration. In addition, many but by no means all OAS members are party to the American Convention on Human Rights.
      
    • The American Convention on Human Rights, O.A.S. Treaty Series No. 36, 1144 U.N.T.S. 123 entered into force July 18, 1978, reprinted in Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System, OEA/Ser.L.V/II.82 doc.6 rev.1 at 25 (1992).
      • Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
    • Travaux préparatoires
    • The Inter-American system: Caselaw and Other Materials of the Commission and Court
      • Decisions
        • Official Sources
          • The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights publishes an Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on regular basis. The series is OEA/Ser.L/V/II.[last two digits of year]. The Reports can also be found on-line. See Research on regional international human rights bodies.
          • The Inter-American Court of Human Rights publishes its Annual Report of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on a regular basis. The series is OEA/Ser.L/V/III.31. The Reports cannot be found on-line.
          • Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Series A: Judgments and Opinions; Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Series B: Pleadings, Oral Arguments and Documents; Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Series C: Decisions and Judgments.
          • The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ homepage has the Commission’s Annual Reports and other basic materials relating to the Inter-American system.
          • The official homepage of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has basic information on the court, and a number of its opinions, though not all of them.
          • The page on the Inter-American Court maintained by the OAS shows the members of the Court. It is not updated in a timely fashion, however, and currently has little to offer.
        • Unofficial Resources
          • The page on the Inter-American Court maintained by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library, has cases and other materials.
          • Westlaw is useful. The IACHR-OAS database has the documents that appear in the Annual Reports of the Inter-Commission on Human Rights. You can use the proprietary software to reach Westlaw, or search the Westlaw database over the Internet. In either case, of course, you will need a password.
          • Lexis can be useful. Some of the Inter-American Court decisions, as well as other documents from the Inter-American system, are published in International Legal Materials (ILM). The ILM can be found in the “ASIL” file of the “INTLAW” library; the ASIL file contains the American Society of International Law’s materials. (You can obtain other information about legal resources available on-line in Lexis by consulting the LEXIS-NEXIS Directory of Online Services. As with Westlaw, you will need a password.)
          • Thomas Buergenthal & Robert E. Norris, Human Rights: The Inter-American System (Oceana, 1982-) has some cases.
      • Digests, Summaries, and Indexes
        • Official Sources
          • The Organization of American States and Human Rights: Activity of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 1960-1967 (1972)
          • Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Ten Years of Activities, 1971-1981 (1982)
        • Unofficial Sources
          • Richard J. Wilson, Researching the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: A Litigator’s Perspective, 10 Am. U.J. Int’l L. & Pol’y 1-331 (1994). An introduction to the Commission’s work, followed by a useful digest and index to Commission resolutions through 1996. The index, digest, and introduction are available here or in 10 Am. U. J. Int’l L. & Pol’y 19 (1994).
      • Other Related Inter-American Resources
        • The OAS homepage
        • The Inter-American Human Rights Database, maintained by the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
        • The OAS’s Unit for the Promotion of Democracy
        • The Political Database of the Americas
        • Mercosur has taken some actions relevant to human rights.
        • The U.S. and Canada are members of the OSCE, so its human rights documents are worth checking as to these two states
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Lynne M. Baum, El Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos: Evaluación, in El Otro Derecho, vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 139-82 (n.d.)
      • Thomas Buergenthal & Robert E. Norris, Human Rights: The Inter-American System (Oceana, 1982-)
      • Thomas Buergenthal, La Protección de los Derechos Humanos en las Américas (Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos 1990)
      • La Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos: Estudios y Documentos (San Jose, Costa Rica: Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 1986)
      • Committee on International Human Rights of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: A Promise Unfulfilled (New York, 1993)
      • J. Scott Davidson, The Inter-American Human Rights System (Aldershot, 1997)
      • Hector Faundez Ledesma, El Sistema interamericano de Protección de los Derechos Humanos: Aspectos Institucionales y Procesales (San Jose, Costa Rica : Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 1996).
      • Hector Gros Espiell, La Convención Americana y la Convención Europea de Derechos Humanos: Análisis Comparativo (Santiago de Chile: Editorial Juridica de Chile, 1st ed. 1991)
      • D.J. Harris & Stephen Livingstone, eds., The Inter-American System of Human Rights (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998).
      • Juan E. Mendez y Francisco Cox, eds., El Futuro del Sistema Interamericano de Protección de los Derechos Humanos (San Jose: Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 1998)
      • Cecilia Medina, ed., El Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos (Santiago, Chile: Escuela de Derecho, Universidad Diego Portales, 1993)
      • Rafael Nieto Navia, ed., La Corte y el Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos (San Jose, Costa Rica: Corte IDH, 1994).
      • Rafael Nieto Navia, Introducción al Sistema Interamericano de Protección a los Derechos Humanos (Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 1993)
      • Bertha Santoscoy, La Commission Interamericaine des Droits de l’Homme et le Developpement de sa Competence par le Systeme des Petitions Individuelles (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1995)
      • Anna P. Schreiber, The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Leiden, Sijthoff, 1970)
      • Systematization of the Contentious Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 1981-1991 (San Jose, Costa Rica: IACHR, 1996)
      • Manuel E. Ventura Robles & Daniel Zovatto G., La función Consultiva de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos: Naturaleza y Principios, 1982-1987 (San Jose, Costa Rica: Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 1st ed. 1989)
      • Juan Carlos Wlasic, et al., eds, Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos: Anotada y Concordada con la Jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (Rosario: Editorial Juris, 1998)
  • The European System
    • The European Convention on Human Rights
      • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
        Note: Since the European Convention first entered into force, there have been eleven subsequent “Protocols,” or treaties adding to or modifying the original Convention. Protocol No. 11 effected many changes in the text of the Convention: It replaced Protocols 2, 3, 5, and 8, repealed Protocol No. 9, and rendered Protocol No. 10 (which concerned the Committee of Ministers’ disposition of matters not referred by the Commission to the Court) pointless. Shown below are the Convention as amended by Protocol No. 11, and the remaining Protocols (as amended by Protocol No. 11). The texts are from the home page of the European Court of Human Rights.
        
        • Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, (ETS No. 005) as amended by Protocol No. 11 (ETS No. 155) of 11 May 1994
          • Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
        • Protocol No. 1 to the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS No. 009) as amended by Protocol No. 11 (ETS No. 155) of 11 May 1994
          • Subjects: property; education; elections
          • Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
        • Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Securing Certain Rights and Freedoms Other than Those Included in the Convention and in Protocol No. 1 (ETS No. 046), as amended by Protocol No. 11 (ETS No. 155) of 11 May 1994
          • Subjects: detention for contract obligation; freedom of movement; expulsion and exile
          • Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
        • Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty (ETS No. 114) as amended by Protocol No. 11 (ETS No. 155) of 11 May 1994
          • Subject: abolition of death penalty
          • Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
          • Council of Europe, Committee of Experts, Explanatory Report on Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty (No. 114) (1983)
        • Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS No. 117) as amended by Protocol No. 11 (ETS No. 155) of 11 May 1994
          • Subjects: protection of aliens; appellate review in criminal cases; compensation for miscarriage of justice; double jeopardy; spousal equality
          • Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
          • Council of Europe, Committee of Experts, Explanatory Report on Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (No. 117) (1985)
        • Protocol No. 11 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS No. 155) of 11 May 1994
          • Subjects: abolition of Commission and reconstitution of Court; revision of Convention and Protocols
          • Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
          • Council of Europe, Committee of Experts, Explanatory report on Protocol No. 11 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (No. 155) (1994)
        • Travaux préparatoires
          • Council of Europe, Collected Edition of the “Travaux Preparatoires” of the European Convention on Human Rights (Martinus Nijhoff & Kluwer, 1975-1985)
          • Council of Europe, Committee of Experts, Explanatory Report of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, reprinted in Council of Europe, Human Rights Today - European Legal Texts (1999)
      • Caselaw: Resources of The European Council and the European Court and Commission of Human Rights
        • Decisions
          • Official Sources
            • The official published reports are European Court of Human Rights, Series A. Series B has oral arguments, pleadings, and documents.
            • The home pages of the Council of Europe and the Directorate of the Council of Europe are useful gateways to information about all the various aspects of the European human rights system. The NGO CIVNET also maintains a page on the Council of Europe.
            • The European Court of Human Rights Homepage has the full text of judgments, as well as other information. Its database is searchable, although the search techniques available are not as flexible as those for Lexis. It also has the decisions in French. It is set up to provide easy downloading of the opinions.
            • The European Commission of Human Rights home page has the more recent reports of the Commission. Note that the Commission has been merged into the Court; nevertheless, it may still be useful to consult the Commission’s earlier decisions.
          • Unofficial Resources
            • The European Human Rights Reports, published by the European Law Centre, Ltd., has texts of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Examining the slip opinions is a good way of seeing the more recent decisions.
            • Lexis is useful. In the “INTLAW” library, check the “ECCASE” file, which contains decisions of both the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Communities; the “ASIL” file contains the American Society of International Law’s materials; and the “INTLR” file has many international law reviews. (You can obtain other information about legal resources available on-line in Lexis by consulting the LEXIS-NEXIS Directory of Online Services.)
        • Digests, Summaries, and Indexes
          • Official Sources
            • The Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights has summaries of the Court’s decisions, as well as other useful related information (e.g., accounts of enforcement activities by the Committee of Ministers; actions by national Parliaments concerning the Convention; summaries of decisions of domestic courts referring to the Convention).
          • Unofficial Resouces
            • Peter Kempees, ed., A Systematic Guide to the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights (Kluwer; multivolume series; 3 vols. to date). Volumes I and II cover 1960-1994, and Volume III covers 1995-1996. For each article of the Convention, it excerpts paragraph(s) from opinions of the Court deemed relevant by the editor. The series is extremely useful, though it should be noted that the excerpts relate solely to the legal holdings, not the facts of the cases, and concurring and dissenting opinions are not referred to.
            • Digest of Strasbourg Case-law Relating to the European Convention on Human Rights/Council of Europe (Cologne: C. Heymanns-Verlag, 1984-1985). This six-volume work covers the years 1954-1982. There is also a loose-leaf with periodic updates for the period after 1982.
            • Human Rights Case Digest (London: Sweet & Maxwell and the British Institute of Human Rights). Published monthly. Has digests of the Commission and Court’s decisions.
            • The Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, published four times a year by the University of Utrecht, has case digests and information on treaty status.
            • Each year the European Law Review, published by Sweet & Maxwell, has a survey issue on human rights law, including digests of the cases of the preceding year organized by article.
      • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
        • Academy of European Law, The Protection of Human Rights in Europe (Vol. VI, Bk. 2 of the Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law) (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1997)
        • A. Bloed, ed., Monitoring Human Rights in Europe: Comparing International Procedures and Mechanisms (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff 1993)
        • Gerard Cohen-Jonathan, La Convention Européenne des Droits de l’Homme (Aix-en-Provence: Presses Universitaires d’Aix-Marseille, 1989)
        • Council of Europe, About the Council of Europe and A Brief History of the Council of Europe
        • Mireille Delmas-Marty, ed., The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights: International Protection versus National Restrictions (trans. Christine Chodkiewicz) (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff 1991)
        • Sevinc Ercman, Guide to Case Law: Key to Case-Law (Vienna: W. Braumuller, 1981)
        • J.E.S. Fawcett, The Application of the European Convention on Human Rights (Oxford 1987)
        • Jochen Frowein & Wolfgang Peukert, Europaische Menschenrechtskonvention: EMRK-Kommentar (Kehl & Arlington, VA.: N.P. Engel, 2d ed. 1996)
        • C.A. Gearty, ed., European Civil Liberties and the European Convention on Human Rights (The Hague: Kluwer Law International 1997)
        • 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)
        • Donna Gomien, Short Guide to the European Convention on Human Rights (Council of Europe: 2d ed. 1998)
        • D.J. Harris, M. O’Boyle & C. Warbrick, Law of the European Convention on Human Rights (Butterworths, 1995)
        • Christian Hillgruber & Matthias Jestaedt, The European Convention on Human Rights and the Protection of National Minorities (Koln: Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, 1994)
        • Francis G. Jacobs & Robin C.A. White, The European Convention on Human Rights (Clarendon Press 2nd ed. 1996)
        • Mark W. Janis, et al., eds., European Human Rights Law: Text and Materials (Oxford 1996)
        • Elias Kastanas, Unité et Diversité: Notions Autonomes et Marge d’Appréciation des États dans la Jurisprudence de la Cour Européenne des Droits de l’Homme (Bruxelles: Etablissements Emile Bruylant, 1996)
        • Ursula Kilkelly, The Child and the European Convention on Human Rights (Brookfield, VT: Ashgate 1999)
        • David Kinley, The European Convention on Human Rights: Compliance without Incorporation (Aldershot: Dartmouth Pub. Co., 1993)
        • Ronald St. J. MacDonald et al., eds., The European System for the Protection of Human Rights (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers 1993)
        • Franz Matscher & Herbert Petzold, eds., Protecting Human Rights: The European Dimension: Studies in Honour of Gerard J. Wiarda (Koln: Carl Heymanns Verlag, 1988)
        • A. Glenn Mower, Regional Human Rights: A Comparative Study of the West European and Inter-American Systems (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991).
        • Jorg Polakiewicz, Die Verpflichtungen der Staaten aus den Urteilen des Europaischen Gerichtshofs fur Menschenrechte (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1993)
        • Privacy and Human Rights: Reports and Communications Presented at the Third International Colloquy about the European Convention on Human Rights (1970) (Manchester, University Press, 1973)
        • A.H. Robertson & J.G. Merrills, Human Rights in Europe: A Study of the European Convention on Human Rights (Manchester University Press & St. Martin’s Press 3rd ed. 1993)
        • United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Fact Sheet No.16 (Rev.1), The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
        • Pieter Van Dijk et al., Theory and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 3d ed. 1998)
        • Jacques Velu & Rusen Ergec, La Convention Europenne des Droits de l’Homme (Bruxelles: Bruylant, 1990)
        • Howard Charles Yourow, The Margin of Appreciation Doctrine in the Dynamics of European Human Rights Jurisprudence (Martinus Nijhoff 1996)
        • See also the works on the European Union and Human Rights
    • Other European Human Rights Instruments
      • The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe One major focus of the OSCE is human rights. For the most part, its focus is on Europe and the former Soviet States, but because the U.S. and Canada are members as well, its resolutions and activities are relevant to those countries, too.
        • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
          Note: There is no information in this section on Treaty Status because the OSCE works by issuing resolutions and other conference documents.
          • The OSCE’s homepage has a documents archive.
          • Arie Bloed, ed., The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe: Analysis and Basic Documents, 1972-1993 (Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers 1993)
          • Arie Bloed, ed., The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe: Basic Documents, 1993-1995 (The Hague: Kluwer Law International 1997)
          • Arie Bloed, ed., From Helsinki to Vienna: Basic Documents of the Helsinki Process (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff 1990)
        • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
          • A. Bloed and P. van Dijk, eds., Essays on Human Rights in the Helsinki Process (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff 1985)
          • A. Bloed and P. van Dijk, eds., The Human Dimension of the Helsinki Process: The Vienna Follow-up Meeting and its Aftermath (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff 1991)
          • A. Bloed, ed., Monitoring Human Rights in Europe: Comparing International Procedures and Mechanisms (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff 1993)
          • The OSCE page at the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
          • Arie Bloed, ed., The Challenges of Change: The Helsinki Summit of the CSCE and Its Aftermath (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff 1994)
          • Zdzislaw Kedzia et al., eds., Perspectives of an All-European System of Human Rights Protection: The Role of the Council of Europe, the CSCE, and the European Communities (Vol. 1 of the All-European Human Rights Yearbook) (Kehl & Arlington, VA: N.P. Engel 1991)
          • Louis B. Sohn, ed., The CSCE and the Turbulent New Europe: Record of a Conference Organized By the International Rule of Law Institute of the George Washington University in Cooperation With the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (Washington, D.C.: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung, 1993)
          • Vojtech Mastny, Helsinki, Human Rights, and European security: Analysis and Documentation (Durham: Duke University Press, 1986)
          • Vojtech Mastny, The Helsinki Process and the Reintegration of Europe, 1986-1991: Analysis and Documentation (New York: New York University Press, 1992)
          • Alexis Heraclides, Helsinki-II and Its Aftermath: The Making of the CSCE into an International Organization (London: Pinter Publishers 1993)
          • Michael Bothe, Natalino Ronzitti and Allan Rosas, eds., the OSCE in the Maintenance of Peace and Security: Conflict Prevention, Crisis Management, and Peaceful Settlement of Disputes (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1997)
      • The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treament or Punishment, E.T.S. 126, entered into force 1 Feb. 1989
        • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
          • Treaty text through the Council of Europe homepage
          • Signatures & Ratifications
          • Travaux Préparatoires
            • Council of Europe, Committee of Experts, Explanatory Report on the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987), reprinted in Council of Europe, Human Rights Today - European Legal Texts (1999)
            • European Convention on the Protection of Detainees from Torture and from Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (draft), reprinted in International Commission of Jurists Review pp. 50-59 (Dec. 1983)
          • Protocols
            • Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treament or Punishment, ETS No. 151 Signatures & Ratifications
            • Protocol No. 2 to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treament or Punishment, ETS No. 152 Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
        • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
          • The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has a homepage with information on the Convention and the Committee’s activities.
          • Malcolm Evans & Rod Morgan, Preventing Torture: The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Oxford University Press 1998)
          • Malcolm D. Evans & Rod Morgan, The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture: Operational Practice, 41 Int'l & Comp. L.Q. 590 (1992)
          • Rod Morgan & Malcolm Evans, Protecting Prisoners: The Standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Context (Oxford 1999)
      • The European Social Charter (Revised)
        The original Charter was adopted in 1961, and amended substantively in 1988. In addition, a number of procedural changes were made. The revised Charter entered into force on July 1, 1999. Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations History:
        • European Social Charter, ETS No. 35, 529 U.N.T.S. 89 (1961), entered into force 26 Feb. 1965
          Protocols
          • Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter, ETS No. 128 (1988) Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
          • Protocol amending the European Social Charter, ETS No. 142 (1991) Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
          • Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter Providing for a System of Collective Complaints, ETS No. 158 (1995) Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
      • European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, ETS No. 148 Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
      • Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, ETS No. 157, opened for signature 1 Feb. 1995 Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
      • European Convention on Nationality, ETS No. 166, opened for signature on 7 Nov. 1997
        • Signatures & Ratifications, Reservations & Declarations
        • Council of Europe, Committee of Experts, Explanatory Report of the European Convention on Nationality, reprinted in Council of Europe, Human Rights Today - European Legal Texts (1999) and in 19 Hum. Rts. L.J. 286 (1998)
    • Other relevant bodies:
      • The Council of Europe has created a post of Commissioner of Human Rights, and Alvaro Gil-Robles was elected the first commissioner on September 21, 1999. The Commissioner will have general responsibilities in protecting and promoting human rights, but will not handle individual petitions. See Alvaro Gil-Robles elected Commissioner for Human Rights.
      • The Human Rights Commission (Chamber and Ombudsperson) of Bosnia and Herzegovina
        This body was established by the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Ombudsperson investigates complaints; the Chamber is a judicial body.
        • The decisions of the Ombudsperson and other relevant information can be found at the Ombudsperson’s web site.
        • Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dietrich Rauschning (em.) of the Institut für Völkerrecht of the University Georgia Augusta at Göttingen maintains a web site on the Chamber’s decisions.
        • Texts of the decisions can be found in the Human Rights Law Journal and in International Human Rights Reports.
        • General information on the Commission can be found at a web site maintained by the OSCE.
        • For more information on the the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina and its implementation, see the web site maintained by the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
      • The Court of Justice of the European Communities has rendered a number of decisions relevant to human rights.
      • The European Union
        • Official Sources
          • The homepage of the European Union
          • The homepage of the Council of the European Union
        • Useful commentaries
          • Philip Alston, ed., The European Union and Human Rights (Oxford University Press 1999)
          • Lammy Betten & Delma MacDevitt, eds., The Protection of Fundamental Social Rights in the European Union (Kluwer Law International 1996)
          • Elspeth Guild & Guillaume Lesieur, eds., The European Court of Justice on the the European Convention on Human Rights: Who Said What, When? (Cambridge, MA: Kluwer Law International 1998)
          • Nanette A. Neuwahl & Allan Rosas, eds., The European Union and Human Rights (Martinus Nijhoff 1995)
      • The home page of the European Parliament.
  • The African System
    • Treaty Texts, Status, and Travaux Préparatoires
      • The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, adopted June 27, 1981, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force Oct. 21, 1986
      • Treaty Text
        • Original text through the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees or Treaty Excerpts through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
        • Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, OAU/LEG/EXP/AFCHPR/PROT III, adopted at the 36th Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Governmetn of the OAU on 9 June 1998 at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso [not yet entered into force], reprinted in 6 Int’l Hum. Rts. Rep. 891 (1999), and in20 Hum. Rts. L.J. 269 (1999).
      • Ratifications, Accesssions, and Signatures through the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees [scroll down to the end of the page] or through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
      • Reservations, Declarations, and Understandings
      • Travaux préparatoires
        • Keba M’Baye, “Introduction to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” in International Commission of Jurists, Human and Peoples’ Rights in Africa and the African Charter (1985), at 19.
    • The African system: General Comments & Caselaw
      • The Organization of African Unity has some information pertaining to human rights, but in general is of very little use.
      • The African Human Rights Resource Center page.
      • The DIANA database at the University of Cincinnati also has documents from the Organization of African Unity
    • Article-by-article commentaries and other useful works
      • Human Rights Law in Africa (annual volume, beginning in 1996, published by Kluwer Law International). Contains human rights documents, ratification information, relevant constitutional provisions, and commentary on the African Charter system and domestic African legal systems
      • Evelyn A. Ankumah & Edward K. Kwakwa, The Legal Profession and the Protection of Human Rights in Africa (Maastricht: Africa Legal Aid, 1998)
      • A.A. An-Na’im & F.M. Deng, eds., Human Rights in Africa (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1990).
      • Institut International d’etudes des Droits de l’homme, La Charte Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples (1990)
      • Keba M’Baye, Les Droits de l’homme en Afrique (Commission Internationale de Juristes 1992)
      • Lone Lindholt, Questioning the Universality of Human Rights: The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights in Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique (Brookfield, VT: Ashgate 1997)
      • Jean Matringe, Tradition et Modernite dans la Charte Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples: Étude du Contenu Normatif de la Charte et de son Apport a la Theorie du Droit International des Droits de l’Homme (Bruxelles: Bruylant, 1996)
      • G.J. Naldi, The Organization of African Unity: An Analysis of Its Role (London: Mansell, 2d ed. 1999).
      • Fatsah Ouguergouz, La Charte Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples: Une Approche Juridique des Droits de l’Homme entre Tradition et Modernite (Paris 1993)
      • Giovanni Michele Palmieri, ed., La Charte Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples (Padova: Cedam, 1990)
      • Chris Maina Peter, Human Rights in Africa: A Comparative Study of the African Human and People’s Rights Charter and the New Tanzanian Bill of Rights (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990)
      • Nasila S. Rembe, Africa and Regional Protection of Human Rights: A Study of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Rome 1985)
      • Nasila S. Rembe, The System of Protection of Human rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Problems and Prospects (Roma, Lesotho: Institute of Southern African Studies, National University of Lesotho, 1991)
      • George W. Shepard & Mark Anikpo, Emerging Human Rights: The African Political Economy Context (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990).
      • U.O. Umozurike, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1997)
      • Claude E. Welch, Jr., Protecting Human Rights in Africa (U. Penn. 1995)
  • Arab and Islamic Human Rights Documents
    • The Arab Charter on Human Rights.
      • Translation by U.N. Center for Human Rights, 18 Hum. Rts. L.J. 151 (1997). The University Centre of Human Ecology and Environmental Sciences in Switzerland has this translation on-line.
      • Translation published by International Commission of Jurists, No. 56, June 1996
    • Resolution No. 49/19-P on the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, U.N. Doc. A/45/421 (1990)
    • The Casablanca Declaration of the Arab Human Rights Movement, 23-25 April 1999, reprinted in 17 Neth. Q. Hum. Rts 363 (1999)
  • Asia-Pacific Region
    Note: There is no regional human rights treaty.
    • Fernand de Varennes, ed., Asia-Pacific Human Rights Documents and Resources (Martinus Nijhoff 1998) (collection of Asia-Pacific-related treaties, declarations by governments and NGOs, together with a directory of Asian human rights organizations)
    • Yash Ghai, Appendix I: Our Common Humanity — Asian Human Rights Charter, 16 Neth. Q. Hum. Rts. 539 (1998) (reproducing an “Asian Human Rights Charter,” which a number of NGOs adopted in 1998)
    • United Nations Workshop for the Asia-Pacific Region on Human Rights Issues (Jakarta, Indonesia) (United Nations 1993)
    • Centre for Human Rights, Fourth Workshop on Regional Human Rights Arrangements in the Asian and Pacific Region: Report (Kathmandu, Nepal) (United Nations 1996)
    • David Geddes, Seminar on National, Local, and Regional Arrangements for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Asian Region: Background Paper (Sydney: Law Association for Asia & the Western Pacific, 1982)
    • David Kelly & Anthony Reid, Asian Freedoms: The Idea of Freedom in East and Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press 1998)
    • Claude Emerson Welch & Virginia A. Leary, eds., Asian Perspectives on Human Rights (Boulder : Westview Press, 1990)
    • William Theodore De Bary, Asian Values and Human Rights: A Confucian Communitarian Perspective (Harvard University Press 1998)
    • Sumit Guha and Michael R. Anderson, eds., Changing Concepts of Rights and Justice in South Asia (Oxford University Press 1998)
    • Peter Van Ness & Nikhil Aziz, eds., Debating Human Rights: Critical Essays from the United States and Asia (London: Routledge 1999)
    • Daniel A. Bell & Joanne R. Bauer, eds., The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights (Cambridge University Press 1999)
    • The Bangkok NGO Declaration on Human Rights (1993)