1. Treaties and other instruments
Two of the largest paper collections of human rights documents in the Library are:
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute Compilation of Human Rights Instruments (Göran Melander & Gudmundur Alfredsson eds., 1997). Human Rights K 3238 .R36 1997
International Human Rights Instruments: A Compilation of Treaties, Agreements, and Declarations of Especial Interest to the United States. (Richard B. Lillich ed., 1983- ) K 3238 .A1 I57 1983.
Many useful sources for documents are on the internet:
The EISIL Project of the American Society of International Law has identified key sources in international human rights law (http://www.eisil.org).
Human Rights Library (U of M), (http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts) This is a major collection of international human rights documents, organized in several ways. Many documents include citations.
Tufts University, Fletcher Multilaterals Project, (http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multilaterals.html)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home) (Under Research/Evaluation, contains useful documents on countries' treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and policy documents relating to refugee and asylum issues).
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (http://www.ohchr.org/english/) (excellent starting point for many topics)
Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Human Rights Treaties (http://www.law.uu.nl/english/sim/instr)
2. Country reports
Country reports are documents issued by intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations, or by governments, that assess a country's human rights performance. Major series of country reports include those issued by Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org), Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org), and the United States Department of State (country reports at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/c1470.htm). All three of these organizations publish their reports on their websites. These reports are on Reserve in the Law Library. The Department of State Reports are at Reserve Y4.F76/ 1-15:. The Amnesty International reports are at Reserve K3239.4 .A46x, and the Human Rights Watch reports are at Reserve JC 571 .H784.
3. Cases
Finding human rights cases can be difficult; some cases are not reported, and case reporters are often published irregularly. Here are some paper sources for human rights cases:
European Court of Human Rights: Publications de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme. Série A, Arrêts et décisions =Publications of the European Court of Human Rights. Human Rights Library KJC5132.A52 E88
Leading Cases of the European Court of Human Rights (R.A. Lawson & H.G. Schermers eds., 1997). Law Library KJC5138.A6 1997x.
International Human Rights Reports (University of Nottingham, 1994- ) (contains cases from the UN, Council of Europe, and the Inter-American Court). Human Rights Library K9 .N7344x
Butterworths Human Rights Cases (1997- ) (contains cases from around the world). Law Library K3240.3 .B88x.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Serie C--Resoluciones y sentencias (1987, 1989, 1990). Human Rights Library KDZ574.A52 I535x
Decisions and Reports (Council of Europe and European Commission for Human Rights, 1960-1974). Human Rights Library KJC5135.A5 C65x (no.1 (1960)-no.46 (1974).
Decisions and Reports (European Commission of Human Rights, 1975-1999). Ceased with 94-B, published in 1999. Human Rights Library KJC5135.A5 D435x .
Selected Decisions under the Optional Protocol (United Nations, Human Rights Committee, 1985-1990). Law Library United Nations Documents UN-DOCSCCPR/C/OP/1-2.
You can often find cases on the internet. Here are some useful sites:
Interights International Human Rights Law (http://www.interights.org) (The International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights)
Human Rights Library (U of M),(http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts).
Inter-American Court of Human Rights (http://www.corteidh.or.cr/index.cfm?&CFID=2020&CFTOKEN=49355178)
HUDOC, European Union human rights cases, (http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Case-Law/HUDOC/HUDOC+database/ )
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decisions (http://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/index_e.asp)
United Nations charter-based and treaty-based organizations make their recent decisions available when these decisions are not confidential. Search at UN High Commissioner for Human Rights http://www.ohchr.org/english/
Cases from national courts involving the definition of a refugee, from the University of Michigan's Refugee Caselaw Site(http://www.refugeecaselaw.org/)
Law School:
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